§ Mr. Gregory CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many visits have been made under the auspices of Invest Northern Ireland by potential inward investors to each constituency within the past 12 months; and how many jobs have been created as a result in each. [171740]
§ Mr. GardinerOver the past year (April 2003 to March 2004) there have been 211 visits by potential inward investors to the Parliamentary constituency areas of Northern Ireland. These are detailed in the following table.
Constituency Number of visits North Antrim 1 South Antrim 10 East Antrim 5 North Belfast 39 East Belfast 40 South Belfast 54 West Belfast 17 North Down 2 Strangford 1 South Down 1 Newry and Armagh 5 Lagan Valley 4 Upper Bann 6 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 1 Mid Ulster 1 West Tyrone 4 Foyle 18 East Londonderry 2 Total 211 Securing inward investment is the result of extensive work over an extended period which may involve a number of visits. As a consequence it must be recognised that there is a time lag between visits by potential investors and ultimately securing investment. 350W Recognising this fact, during the past year (April 2003 to March 2004) Invest NI secured 11 new inward investment projects as a result of which 1,099 new jobs will be promoted (i.e. are expected to be created). The final constituency locations for all of the 11 projects have not yet been finalised. Not all of the 11 companies visited Northern Ireland during 2003–04, many visited during previous years.