Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry, DUP)

What measures Invest Northern Ireland is taking to assist economic regeneration in areas where substantial job losses are likely to occur within the next three months.

Angela Smith (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Northern Ireland Office; Basildon, Labour)

Invest NI has helped client companies throughout Northern Ireland become more entrepreneurial, innovative and internationally oriented, offering £400 million of assistance towards £1.5 billion of total planned investment. Where clients encounter difficulties, Invest NI proactively tries to avert redundancies. Where they prove unavoidable, Invest NI and the Department for Employment and Learning work closely with the company to minimise their effects.

Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry, DUP)

The Minister will be aware that 380 of my constituents and their families face a bleak future after Farm Fed Chickens announced its possible closure within three months. Will she ensure that Invest NI increases the lamentable number of potential inward investors in my constituency over the past few years so as to replace those jobs with durable, high-quality employment opportunities?

Angela Smith (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Northern Ireland Office; Basildon, Labour)

I assure the hon. Gentleman that Invest Northern Ireland is already working with Farm Fed Chickens to look at ways in which we can help to research alternative markets. The Department for Employment and Learning is also providing advice and support for workers who have been made redundant. Invest Northern Ireland is demand-led and supports investors who want to invest in Northern Ireland. The key to ensuring that Invest Northern Ireland can attract investors is the skills of workers in Northern Ireland. That is why the skills and science fund, launched by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, is so important. It will ensure that we have the skills that attract investors to invest and create jobs in Northern Ireland.

Alasdair McDonnell (Belfast South, Social Democratic and Labour Party)

In taking measures to tackle recent unemployment, could we begin to develop a strategy to tackle long-term unemployment? Does the Minister agree that the best opportunities for economic growth lie in high-wage, high-value added technology? We need a greater focus on the newer technologies, especially biotechnology, where we might not be as focused as we could be.

Angela Smith (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Northern Ireland Office; Basildon, Labour)

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that that is where the focus is needed, and that is where the focus is. There is considerable investment in biotechnology to show that Northern Ireland can be a world leader in that area. The skills and science fund is the key to ensuring that we get those high-value technological jobs that will attract investors and create more sustainable long-term jobs in Northern Ireland.

Lembit Öpik (Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Affairs; Montgomeryshire, Liberal Democrat)

Does the Minister accept that, as we go into yet another round of talks, they are once again about the constitutional issues and does she agree that we need to start focusing on the practical economic realities in Northern Ireland? In that context, will she agree to consider setting up an all-party forum to look in detail at the problems facing the Northern Ireland economy, accepting that such a format may be useful in the future for education and health issues?

Angela Smith (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Northern Ireland Office; Basildon, Labour)

I guide the hon. Gentleman to the speech by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to the Fabian Society, in which he made those very points about engaging everybody in looking at the future of Northern Ireland. We have several forums for debate and discussion on such issues and I am not sure that a further forum would add value. I can however give him a guarantee that the forums that we have will be used to ensure that we obtain investment and provide jobs, and we will ensure that the work force have the skills to take advantage of that investment. That is the key to attracting investment to provide long-term sustainable jobs.

Laurence Robertson (Shadow Minister, Northern Ireland; Tewkesbury, Conservative)

As we discussed in the Northern Ireland Grand Committee yesterday, there are several bright spots in the economy of Northern Ireland, but there are one or two problems. The Minister will be aware that many people in Northern Ireland are concerned that the Province is over-dependent on the public sector, which appears to be growing. What does she intend to do to redress that growing imbalance?

Invest NI has raised several concerns, such as the low spending on research and development by businesses, the low rate of business start-ups and the fact that Northern Ireland has the highest economic inactivity rates in the UK. Those are real problems and I wish the Minister well in tackling them. Can she tell us exactly what she will do to improve matters?

Angela Smith (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Northern Ireland Office; Basildon, Labour)

The hon. Gentleman is quoting from my right hon. Friend's speech last week, in which he identified those very problems. The hon. Gentleman can be a little negative, as I pointed out to him yesterday, but employment levels are the highest ever, unemployment is the lowest average in the UK, manufacturing output is growing and is significantly higher than in the rest of the UK, and manufacturing exports are up. I take the point about the over-reliance on the public sector, which is why the review of public administration would reduce the number of councils from 26 to seven and reduce the number of public bodies. That is also why the work being done by Invest NI to grow the private sector is so important. I accept the hon. Gentleman's point, but he should not underestimate the gains that are being made.