asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public money has been invested by the present Government in private industry in Northern Ireland since February 1974.

Since February 1974 the present Government have put £153,002 by way of equity into private industry in Northern Ireland, almost all of which was invested by the Northern Ireland Finance Corporation.In the same period the Government, either directly through the Department of Commerce, or indirectly through the Northern Ireland Finance Corporation and the Local Enterprise Development Unit, paid out a further £74,480,806, of which approximately £20,685,950 was in the form of loans. The sum of £74,480,806 was made up as follows: