Written question asked by Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party) on Monday, 22 May 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 24 May 2006. It was answered by Maria Eagle (Labour) on Tuesday, 6 June 2006 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office.

Moy Park Group

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what (a) financial and (b) other support has been provided to the Moy Park Group for each of its Northern Ireland plants by (i) the Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, (ii) the Department for Employment and Learning and (iii) Invest Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Answer: Over the past five years financial support of £10,973,752 has been given to Moy Park Group through Invest NL The plants benefiting from the assistance are located in Craigavon, Dungannon, Moira and Lisnaskea. Within the timescale for the response a separate analysis of grant that each plant has drawn down is not possible. Support has been offered through a variety of direct grant programmes: selective financial assistance, Compete research and development, networking, business improvement in addition to marketing assistance.The Department for Employment and Learning supports employers who are expanding their workforce or creating new jobs by providing job brokering services and suitable training programmes where appropriate. The Department has a very close working relationship with the Moypark Group, which has a high turnover of staff, and services the majority of its vacancies. One company within the Moy Park Group, Feme Foods, employed one employee under the new deal employment options for which the company received a total of £1,950.

Secondary information