Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by David Anderson (Labour). It was answered on Wednesday, 1 February 2017 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office.

---

Inward Investment

Question

May I start by asking the House to accept the Labour leader’s heartfelt apologies for his mistaken statement last week, when he said that a member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland had been killed? I am sure the House will agree that we all want to see the officer make good progress. We wish him and his family well.

There is no doubt that political instability worries businesses, but a much bigger day-to-day threat is the burden placed on business by the crushing cost of energy in Northern Ireland. Electricity generators are charging customers 58% more than the EU average, while pulling in gross profits of €900 million a year. Will the Secretary of State meet the energy regulator urgently to impress on it the need to rein in these fat cat profiteers?

Answer

We will do everything we can to ensure that there is a good economic link between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The common economic connector is an important part of that and we will work together to resolve that issue.

---

Secondary information

Type

Oral question

Reference

620 c1010 

Session

2016-17

Oral question type

Supplementary

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Subjects

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland government Foreign investment in UK

Link

View this Oral question on hansard.parliament.uk