Statement by TUV leader, Jim Allister:-
“I have long maintained that Invest NI is neglectful of much of North Antrim and other areas outside the Greater Belfast area. Today’s figures from ‘The Detail’ confirm the raw deal that the Ballymoney and Moyle areas, in particular, of my constituency have been getting.
“In Belfast the spend per head of population was £452; Ballymoney a mere £62 and in Moyle a derisory £34. Yet, Invest NI pretends it is even-handed. Patently, it is not. When I factor in that in the last 5 years North Antrim has only had 8 FDI visits in total, then it is clear to me that Invest NI is catastrophically failing North Antrim, where so many jobs have been lost recently.
“With a third of Invest’s funding going to the universities and NI Screen, it seems to me Invest NI has a disproportionate focus, which is further aggravated by the bias in favour of exporting companies to the detriment of many other local companies. Of course, it is important to support our universities in R & D, but the extent to which this is squeezing out deserving indigenous industry is unfair.”