§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will list the inward investment projects where there is a reduction in the number of jobs in 1996–97. [3064]
§ Mr. IngramIt is quite normal for company employment to fluctuate in response to market forces and technological developments. This is reflected in the individual employment patterns of nearly 220 externally-owned companies of which 95 per cent. experienced increases or decreases during 1996–97, resulting in a net employment increase of over 400 jobs.
Three externally-owned companies closed during the year, detailed in the following table:
Company Employment at 31 March 1996 AVM Telecom Ltd. 7 Benelux Manufacturing (NI) Ltd. 231 Blackers Mill Ltd. 54
§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many visits were made to each(a) parliamentary constituency and (b) district council area by potential inward investors in each financial year since 1992; and how many of the potential investors were brought by the Industrial Development Board to South Down. [3063]
§ Mr. IngramThe information required to answer part (a) is not available and would involve disproportionate costs to extract. Visits arranged by IDB to Northern Ireland District Council Areas for potential investors in the last four years are detailed in the attached table. Comparable figures for 1992–93 are not available and would involve disproportionate costs to extract.
208W
Visits to district council areas by potential investors 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Antrim 15 26 18 34 Ards 4 5 3 10 Armagh 0 1 1 4 Ballymena 5 13 3 0 Ballymoney 0 3 1 3 Banbridge 0 2 3 1 Belfast 63 65 55 62 Carrickfergus 6 13 7 22 Castlereagh 4 1 8 6 Coleraine 12 5 3 7 Cookstown 2 4 17 10 Craigavon 7 12 16 15 Derry 19 18 30 32 Down 2 10 2 3 Dungannon 12 13 9 4 Fermanagh 5 3 11 15 Larne 4 6 4 1 Limavady 4 3 2 7 Lisburn 8 19 41 31 Magherafelt 1 2 4 0 Moyle 1 0 0 0 Newry and Mourne 8 15 16 9 Newtownabbey 27 17 19 22 North Down 8 4 9 3 Omagh 1 2 6 8
Visits to district council areas by potential investors 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Strabane 0 2 9 10 Total 218 265 297 319 Visits to District Council Areas for other than inward investment purposes are not included in these figures, e.g. visits to tourist attractions.