Foreign Nationals
Mrs Iris Robinson asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the numbers of foreign nationals currently living in Northern Ireland by (a) constituency; and (b) District Council area.
(AQW 954/07)
Mr Nigel Dodds: The LFS sample size does not support the production of sufficiently reliable estimates at constituency or district council level.
Targeting Social Need
Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the areas that Invest Northern Ireland considers to be new Targeting Social Need areas, for the purpose of achieving its target of 75% investment in such areas.
(AQW 1127/07)
Mr Nigel Dodds: In targeting 75% of first-time inward investment towards areas of greatest need, Invest NI utilises the DETI disadvantaged area maps which are based on data from the income and employment domains of the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2005. The areas recognised as ‘disadvantaged’ include Derry, Strabane, Omagh, Cookstown, Newry and Mourne and Dungannon Council areas together with parts of Belfast. The detailed maps are available on the DETI website at www.detini.gov.uk.
Bombardier Jobs
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment what assurances he has received that the financial assistance given by his department to Bombardier Aerospace, Belfast, will result in the availability of a substantial number of jobs.
(AQW 1167/07)
Mr Nigel Dodds: In answering this question, I am assuming that the Member for Strangford is referring to the announcement I made during my visit to Paris Air Show on 19 June. In that announcement, which related to Bombardier’s new Resin Transfer Moulding facility at Dunmurry, I welcomed Bombardier’s investment of £8.2 million towards which Invest NI would contribute £1.5 million in Selective Financial Assistance. The project, which safeguards sixty highly skilled jobs, will enable Bombardier Aerospace in Northern Ireland to exploit global market opportunities and add significant value to the Northern Ireland Aerospace Sector .
CORRIGENDA
Written Answer Booklet of 22 June 2007
(Volume 22, No WA6)
In page WA180, col 1, replace the answer to question (AQW 731/07) with;
Roads Service aims to inspect and clean where necessary, all gullies in urban areas twice each year. Gullies in rural areas are inspected and cleaned if necessary, once each year. This policy ensures that a reasonable level of maintenance is carried out to drainage systems, taking account of the Department’s finite funding and staff resource levels.
Within Eastern Division there are 136,000 storm water road gullies and so it requires considerable resource on an ongoing basis to inspect and clean the entire network of gullies and road drains.
In the East Belfast area, up to three High Pressure Jetting / Gully emptying teams operate at any one time to undertake the cyclical maintenance programme.
Where specific problems are identified an investigatory drainage team is deployed as required.
In addition a Roads Service Emergency Squad is available to carry out works at short notice.
The extreme flooding which occurred in the afternoon of 12 June 2007 was not caused by any failure to maintain the operational effectiveness of the storm water gullies or road drains. The gullies, road drains and watercourses were overwhelmed by the deluge of rain which fell within a 2 hour period.
Written Answer Booklet of 8 June 2007
(Volume 22, No WA4)
In page WA81, col 2, replace the answer to question (AQW 175/07) with;
The Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan, published in November 2004, set out transport proposals for the Belfast area for implementation by 2015, subject to detailed economic appraisal, funding availability and statutory processes. The Plan's proposals represent a balanced and multi-modal approach to transport aimed at encouraging greater use of public transport and greater levels of walking and cycling. Some specific initiatives are:
- in addition to the funding recently spent on introducing new trains to the rail network, which has resulted in increased passenger numbers in the greater Belfast area, options for future railways provision, which would include the purchase of more new trains to enhance capacity on the Belfast commuter rail network, are currently being examined;
- a study is being carried out into the feasibility of two pilot Rapid Transit routes in the Belfast area;
- funding of £48m was made available during the period 2004-2007 for the purchase of 352 new buses. Metro bus services in the greater Belfast area have benefitted from this investment. The fleet has been substantially modernised; average vehicle age has reduced to 6 years; and accessibility levels have increased to 96%. This has helped generate an increase in passenger numbers of 15% over the two years to March 2007;
- Translink’s Metro phase II expansion plan will introduce 25 additional buses to increase frequency on three main routes; and, if this proves successful, a further 33 new buses will be introduced to increase frequency on all the main bus corridors;
- Translink is promoting park-and-ride schemes from locations on the outskirts of Belfast;
- Roads Service and Translink are working to implement a Quality Bus Corridor programme to provide bus priority measures which will improve bus journey times, reliability and frequency of bus services and to provide high quality bus shelters and passenger information.
- Roads Service, through its Travelwise initiative, is raising awareness of a range of sustainable transport measures, including the promotion of public transport to employers, commuters and schools;