§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what public meetings Invest Northern Ireland has attended which involved a single political party over the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [166709]
Table 1: Invest NI assistance by parliamentary constituency 2002–04 Number of offers Total assistance offered (£) 12002–03 22003–04 12002–03 22004–04 Belfast East 56 125 1,988,355 10,553,086 Belfast North 39 102 4,159,212 3,909,854 Belfast South 130 239 14,431,684 24,514,181 Belfast West 40 88 3,369,594 7,996,055 East Antrim 63 167 5,988,209 3,698,718 East Londonderry 57 110 4,113,042 735,628 Fermanagh And South Tyrone 67 211 4,920,677 3,860,934 Foyle 83 211 13,503,444 6,775,914 Lagan Valley 54 179 1,462,738 1,595,612 Mid Ulster 138 291 4,058,250 4,989,297 Newry And Armagh 81 175 5,363,098 1,543,146 North Antrim 70 195 2,177,964 5,594,554 North Down 44 83 1,347,025 3,921,590 South Antrim 86 196 22,877,977 4,008,124 South Down 70 154 2,439,960 1,023,657 Strangford 58 110 1,498,130 1,466,028 Upper Bann 77 241 16,436,700 5,772,790 West Tyrone 51 179 4,441,343 5,637,857 Grand Total 1,264 3,056 114,577,402 97,597,025 1 In 2002–03 an additional £21.2 million m as offered to approximately 1,000 clients for which this level of detail is not available. 2 Offers in 2003–04 include 733 companies receiving broadband support under a scheme that was unavailable in 2002–03. Notes: 1 2003–04 figures are provisional and may be subject to change. 2 Although these businesses have been offered assistance, some may not as yet have received any grant. 3 Assistance includes repayables such as loans as well as grants. Table 2 following shows the list of offers where more than £75,000 assistance has been offered in the last two years for business development projects. In addition to this 45 large projects that have been offered almost
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Table 2: Invest NI clients offered assistance over £75,000 2002–04 Client name Parliamentary constituency Total assistance offered (£) Financial year Datactics Ltd. Belfast East 100,000 2003–04 Heartsine Technologies Inc Belfast East 500,000 2003–04 Abbey National Contact Centre Belfast North 768,000 2003–04 Latens Systems Ltd. Belfast South 700,000 2002–03 Alien Systems Group Inc Belfast South 2,016,000 2003–04 Dimex Ltd. Belfast South 82,525 2003–04
§ Mr. GardinerSince Invest NI was established in April 2002, its officials have attended no public meetings which involved a single political party. Information on the activities of the former economic development agencies that pre-dated Invest NI prior to April 2002 is not available.
§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Invest NI grants have been awarded; which companies benefited; and what amount of finance was provided through each respective award, broken down by constituency, in each of the past two years. [166745]
§ Mr. GardinerAlmost 4,400 companies have been offered assistance in the last two years. To provide a list of all these companies would require a major administrative exercise, which could only be carried out at disproportionate cost. Table 1 following details the number of offers and amount of assistance offered to businesses, by Parliamentary Constituency over the past two years.
£40 million of assistance have not yet been announced to the public. The details of these projects are not included in table 2 to ensure that these investments are not compromised through the release of commercially sensitive information.
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Table 2: Invest NI clients offered assistance over £75,000 2002–04 Client name Parliamentary constituency Total assistance offered (£) Financial year Double Band Films Ltd. Belfast South 106,680 2003–04 Graham and Heslip Ltd. Belfast South 75,000 2003–04 Memsis Ltd. Belfast South 75,000 2003–04 Relay Business Software Ltd. Belfast South 100,000 2003–04 Andor Technology Ltd. Belfast West 989,500 2002–03 Mobile Cohesion Ltd. Belfast West 400,000 2002–03 Digesters Silos and Tanks Ltd. Belfast West 200,000 2003–04 Icemos Technology Ltd. Belfast West 3,529.410 2003–04 Kiel Pharma Ltd. East Antrim 1,562,500 2002–03 Finlay Bme Ltd. Fermanagh and South Tyrone 500,000 2002–03 Quinn Direct Insurance Ltd. Fermanagh and South Tyrone 2,100,000 2002–03 Cabragh Engineering Ltd. Fermanagh and South Tyrone 75,000 2003–04 Tyrone Fabrications Ltd. Fermanagh and South Tyrone 199,300 2003–04 Glenaden Shirts Ltd. Foyle 80,000 2002–03 Seagate Technology (Ireland) Ltd. Foyle 10,000,000 2002–03 Western Connect Ltd. Foyle 125,000 2002–03 Exus Energy Ltd. Foyle 177,000 2003–04 Foyle Food Group Ltd. Foyle 180,000 2003–04 Hml Foyle 3,200,000 2003–04 Mechanical Installation And Maintenance (NI) Ltd. Foyle 97,000 2003–04 Singularity Ltd. Foyle 89,000 2003–04 Boomer Industries Ltd. Lagan Valley 119,563 2002–03 Kelman Ltd. Lagan Valley 99,000 2002–03 Pressfold Ltd. Lagan Valley 98,284 2002–03 Lagan Technologies Ltd. Lagan Valley 108,000 2003–04 McMullen Architectural Systems Ltd. Lagan Valley 217,500 2003–04 Chieftain Trailers Ltd. Mid Ulster 375,000 2002–03 McErlains Bakery (Magherafelt) Ltd. Mid Ulster 186,590 2002–03 Oakwood Door Designs Ltd. Mid Ulster 99,000 2002–03 T E S (NI) Ltd. Mid Ulster 95,426 2002–03 Tobermore Concrete Products Ltd. Mid Ulster 250,000 2002–03 Maghera Joinery Works Ltd. Mid Ulster 95,000 2003–04 Peadar Hughes T/A General Cabins and Engineering Mid Ulster 93,750 2003–04 Roll Formed Fabrications Ltd. Mid Ulster 385,300 2003–04 S D C Trailers Ltd. Mid Ulster 100,000 2003–04 Steelweld Fabrications Ltd. Mid Ulster 81,603 2003–04 The McAvoy Group Ltd. Mid Ulster 450,000 2003–04 Viper International Ltd. Mid Ulster 180,500 2003–04 Answercall Direct Ltd. Newry and Armagh 2,841,000 2002–03 E-Blana Enterprise Group Ltd. Newry and Armagh 140,000 2002–03 N C Agricultural Engineering Ltd. Newry And Armagh 275,000 2003–04 Francis Dinsmore Ltd. North Antrim 171,250 2003–04 Hubert Brown-Kerr North Antrim 100,000 2003–04 Joseph Hughes North Antrim 85,927 2003–04 Me Keown Fine Foods Ltd. North Antrim 109,519 2003–04 Anderson Manning Associates Ltd. North Down 550,000 2002–03 Mm Group Ltd. North Down 224,200 2002–03 Donaghadee Carpets Ltd. North Down 2,000,000 2003–04 Gray and Adams (Ireland) Ltd. South Antrim 102,500 2002–03 McNeill-McManus Facades Ltd. South Antrim 99,500 2002–03 Randox Laboratories Ltd. South Antrim 16,200,000 2002–03 Consilium Technologies Ltd. South Antrim 85,000 2003–04 M D F Engineering Ltd. South Antrim 100,000 2003–04 Springfarm Architectural Mouldings Ltd. South Antrim 95,000 2003–04 Ulster Weavers Apparell Ltd. South Down 1,552,500 2002–03 Coulter Windows Ltd. South Down 250,000 2003–04 Hill Engineering Ltd. South Down 75,000 2003–04 Image Investments Ltd. Strangford 75,000 2002–03 Fortress Diagnostics Ltd. Strangford 95,982 2003–04 B D G Group Ltd. Upper Bann 81,400 2002–03 Franklins International Ltd. Upper Bann 172,000 2002–03 Glanbia Cheese Ltd. Upper Bann 2,490,000 2002–03 Nacco Materials Handling Ltd. Upper Bann 6,500,000 2002–03 Thos W McDonagh Limied Upper Bann 100,000 2002–03 Evron Foods Ltd. Upper Bann 97,198 2003–04 Kestrel Foods Ltd. Upper Bann 91,868 2003–04 Adria Ltd. West Tyrone 2,350,000 2002–03 McColgans Quality Foods Ltd. West Tyrone 950,000 2002–03
Table 2: Invest NI clients offered assistance over £75,000 2002–04 Client name Parliamentary constituency Total assistance offered (£) Financial year P T Me Williams West Tyrone 91,204 2002–03 Portapig Ltd. West Tyrone 80,375 2002–03 Raymond and Elaine Boyd West Tyrone 150,000 2003–04 Notes: 1. Although these businesses have been offered assistance, many of the businesses may not as yet have drawn down any grant. 2. Assistance includes repayable assistance such as loans as well as grants.
§ Mr. TrimbleTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons were employed by Invest Northern Ireland on(a) 1 April 2002, (b) 1 April 2003 and (c) 1 April 2004. [168218]
§ Mr. GardinerOn its establishment in April 2002, Invest NI had a formal staff allocation of 738 full time equivalent (FTE) posts. At that time, however, there were only 657 staff in post as Invest NI's legacy agencies had adopted a policy of not filling vacancies in the run up to the establishment of the new body. On the other specified dates the numbers employed were:
Numbers employed on specified dates Numbers employed Full time equivalents 1 April 2003 709 689 1 April 2004 703 681 Invest NI also engages a varying number of contracted staff in its overseas offices and also to deliver specific programmes. These currently number 43 in total and are separately funded.
§ Mr. TrimbleTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons employed by Invest Northern Ireland have chosen permanently to transfer from the Northern Ireland Civil Service to Invest Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [168219]
§ Mr. GardinerTo date, 39 former Northern Ireland civil servants have transferred permanently to Invest Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. TrimbleTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to make a decision regarding the new headquarters for Invest Northern Ireland. [168220]
§ Mr. GardinerHaving assessed the high quality bids received for the provision of Invest NI's new HQ accommodation and completed the process in line with European Procurement. Law, a clear decision as to a preferred bidder has been reached. Final negotiations are being entered into with MRDE (McAleer & Rushe/Dunloe Ewart) the preferred bidder consortium who offered the Bedford Street site as a location. The contract should be awarded by end June 2004.
§ Mr. TrimbleTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much she estimates the new headquarters for Invest Northern Ireland will cost; and from what source of funds it will be paid for. [168221]
§ Mr. GardinerFinal negotiations are on-going with the preferred bidder McAleer and Rushe Limited/Dunloe1128W Ewart Ltd. (MRDE Ltd.) and as a result no final figures are available. The project is however estimated to be worth approximately £50 million, representing a construction value of around £20 million with the remaining value earmarked for the provision of related accommodation services over a 25-year period. Funding will come from a reallocation of existing accommodation savings and from the Strategic Investment Programme.
§ Mr. TrimbleTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total cost of staff was at Invest Northern Ireland in each of the last two financial years. [168222]
§ Mr. GardinerThe total cost of staff for Invest Northern Ireland in each of the last two financial years was:
£ million Year ended 31 March 2003 19.6 Year ended 31 March 2004 21.2