§ Lady HermonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the(a) nature and (b) extent of the application for funding made by the Andersonstown News Group to Invest NI. [185371]
§ Mr. GardinerThe Andersonstown News Group approached Invest NI to request assistance for a project to publish a new national daily newspaper at an estimated investment cost of circa £3 million. The project anticipated the creation of up to 41 new jobs, 35 of which were to be based at the Group's offices in West Belfast and six in new offices to be established in Monaghan Town, in the Republic of Ireland. The company anticipated that 50 per cent. of the sales revenue would be generated in the Republic of Ireland.
A commercial appraisal of the project has been completed by independent consultants. In line with Part II, Paragraph 13 (Third party's commercial confidences) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, it would be inappropriate to disclose further information.