Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 18 February 1993.
Mr William Ross
, East Londonderry
12:00,
18 February 1993
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on Northern Ireland industrial productivity levels.
Mr Robert Atkins
, South Ribble
Gross domestic product per employee in manufacturing industries in Northern Ireland in 1991 was £17,900. Over the five-year period, 1986 to 1991, manufacturing productivity in Northern Ireland increased by 18 per cent., which compares very well with the growth in manufacturing productivity of 19 per cent. for the United Kingdom as a whole over the same period.
Mr William Ross
, East Londonderry
Do not those very welcome figures indicate that, as manufacturing productivity improves in Northern Ireland, so Northern Ireland becomes a much better place for inward investment? Will the Minister do all that he possibly can to increase the productivity of the work force in Northern Ireland so as to attract more inward investment?
Mr Robert Atkins
, South Ribble
The hon. Gentleman is entirely right. If we are to continue to seek foreign investors investing in Northern Ireland, as well as from other parts of Europe and the United Kingdom as a whole, we need to increase productivity to the sort of level that demonstrates that the work force is first rate, that the products made are first rate and that, all in all, Northern Ireland is the best place to invest in, for all the reasons that the hon. Gentleman mentions.
Henry Bellingham
, North West Norfolk
Does the Minister agree that good labour relations and inward investment play a key role in Northern Ireland's recovery? What representations has he received from business men in Northern Ireland about the effects of the social chapter on their businesses?
Mr Robert Atkins
, South Ribble
I think it fair to say that the general consensus among business men involved in Northern Ireland activities will be that the social chapter is the disaster that we know it to be, and they recognise only too readily the contribution of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in ensuring that there was an opt-out from that disastrous policy, which, as the President of the European Commission has said time and again, has ensured that Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a paradise for foreign investment.
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