HC Deb 24 October 1994 vol 248 cc452-3W
Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which firm of consultants was commissioned to prepare a confidential report on the implications of the application of the Hualon Corporation for a grant of £61 million for the opening of new facilities in Northern Ireland; when that report was received by his Department; whether, upon what date, and upon what authority sections of the report have been quoted by officials to representatives of the press, and how any such quoted sections were selected; and if he will now make available copies of that report both to the Library and to the Committee of Public Accounts.

Mr. Ancram

The consultants commissioned were Kurt Salmon Associates Ltd. Three separate reports were received—technical review, October 1992, preliminary market report, April 1993, and market assessment report, December 1993.

There have been no quotes by officials to representatives of the press. However, relevant extracts from those reports were quoted by my hon. Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Smith) in the Financial Times of 3 June 1994 in response to that newspapers's coverage of the project on 31 May 1994.

Those reports contain commercially confidential information and will not therefore be made available in the Library. Should the Public Accounts Committee decide to examine the project and call for the information, then a decision will be made as to the availability of the reports at that time.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what inquiries he has made of the Taiwanese authorities about charges recently reported as having been filed against individuals associated with member companies of the Hualon group; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Ancram

From the information available, confirmed by a press statement issued by the Hualon Corporation on 11 October, none of those arrested for alleged violation of the Taiwan stock exchange regulations is employed by the corporation, which is a totally separate entity to the suspended brokerage houses.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland upon which date, and in what sum, the first payment is expected to be made to the Hualon Corporation in connection with the proposed grant to the corporation for the development of new textile facilities in Northern Ireland.

Mr. Ancram

The timing and amount of the first grant payment cannot be determined at this stage. It will depend, inter alia, on a number of prepayment conditions being satisfied by the company, the factory construction period and the delivery of the equipment for the first phase.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the textile companies, trade unions or textile employers' organisations which have to date welcomed the proposed grant to the Hualon Corporation in connection with the development of new textile facilities in Northern Ireland.

Mr. Ancram

The General and Municipal Boilermakers Union in Northern Ireland has publicly said it is "very very pleased" to see jobs on the projected scale and the technology coming to Northern Ireland. There has also been a widespread welcome for the project and the prospect of 1,800 jobs not only from the people of north and west Belfast but across the political spectrum.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information he has concerning the type of looms which the Hualon Corporation is intending to purchase for use in the facilities in Northern Ireland for which it has been awarded a £61 million grant; what steps he has taken to check with the manufacturers of those looms Hualon's assertion that they will be running at 20 per cent. more than the normal speed; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Ancram

For reasons of commercial confidentiality it is not possible to disclose details of the type of equipment to be purchased. However, during the course of the expert consultant's examination it was confirmed that Hualon was already running looms at up to 20 per cent. above the norm with no apparent increase in down time.