Theresa Villiers Pre G8 package for Northern Ireland…

| Readers 46

So, I’m on the hoof at the moment, but here’s Theresa Villiers (substantially Owen Patterson’s original outline) package:

  • An additional £100 million in capital borrowing powers for the Executive over 2014-15 and 2015-16 to support specific shared housing and education projects.
  • A further £42 (€50) million in UK funding for the PEACE IV programme and a £154 (€181) million top-up for EU Structural Funds for Northern Ireland for 2014-2020, bringing the total funding for economic and shared future projects through PEACE IV and EU Structural Funds to £550 million.
  • Continuing Northern Ireland’s Assisted Areas Status coverage, which has helped the Executive to create over 3,000 jobs in NI in the last three months alone.
  • Plans for a major G8 Investment Conference in Northern Ireland in October, to be attended by the Prime Minister.
  • Measures to boost lending to businesses, including extending the £117 million Start-up Loans Scheme to Northern Ireland and piloting a new version of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme with a bank in NI.
  • Unlocking access for Northern Ireland to the Government’s £40 billion Infrastructure Guarantee Scheme.
  • A joint £20 million investment plan for Research & Development projects in Northern Ireland, with a particular focus on aerospace.
  • A joint programme of work to examine the potential to gift up to 350 surplus MoD houses and bases for use in shared future projects.
  • Agreement on a mechanism for taking forward the devolution of Corporation Tax before the 2015 General Election, if the Government decides to devolve these powers.
  • A commitment to examine the potential for devolving additional fiscal powers, with recommendations to be put to Executive and Government Ministers by autumn 2014.
  • A new way forward on Enterprise Zones, which would allow NI businesses in designated areas to benefit from enhanced capital allowances.
  • A commitment to take forward a visa waiver pilot to encourage visitors to the Republic of Ireland to visit Northern Ireland.
  • A new process led by the Executive to ensure the planning system in Northern Ireland supports economic growth.
  • A substantial programme of work to examine how the financial potential of Belfast Port can be unlocked.
  • An Executive-led review of business red tape, including recommendations to reduce the regulatory burdens facing businesses, to report by December 2013.

Handy of the First Minister to get his interview in with The View before the details came out, but what do YOU think?

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