AQW 32022/22-27

Mr Andrew McMurray
Alliance Party
South Down

Tabled Date: 24/09/2025
Answered On Date: 02/10/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy, pursuant to AQO 2391/22-27, to outline (i) whether her Department has always been open to considering alternative Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD) proposals outside of the tourism pillar or whether this is a recent change; (ii) whether she is aware of any potential innovation projects that might be brought forward; and (iii) whether her Department will, in principle, be open to exploring alternative proposals under any of the four pillars of investment covered by the BRCD.

Answer:

My focus is on supporting Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and the wider Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD) partners to develop the right project, irrespective of pillar, that will retain the funding in the region and deliver sustained and inclusive economic growth. My officials continue to engage with the Council to help deliver that outcome.

The reallocation of funding, including any decision to fund a project within another pillar, will, in the first instance, be considered and agreed by the BRCD partners. I am aware that it is the partners’ initial preference that a project within the Tourism and Regeneration pillar of the Deal be considered, given its importance to delivering inclusive sub-regional growth and addressing economic inactivity in both our urban and rural communities.

Any proposals submitted by the BRCD partners will be considered by the Department that has policy responsibility for the outcomes that the project is delivering. My Department’s policy responsibilities on City Deals are around Tourism, Innovation and Digital.