Speeches by Swann.

“Are you saying that officials did not hear you say it?”

“Have you built that into NIO programmes?”

“We will not see that again.”

“Minister Patrick, when you were finishing on Ms Murray’s comment there, the specific Minister who you mentioned you met was the Minister for Infrastructure. Your Northern Ireland Office annual report noted ongoing work with the Executive on the development of an infrastructure strategy, but your response to our report …”

“If I could add to that, it is also about that ability and that intelligence. In regard to the local growth fund and the capital spend, you mentioned the imbalance that has happened now, which has upset or annoyed many of those organisations. Can you tell me why your Department has only recently begun the consultation i…”

“That would be useful. In regard to that, are there any lessons that you have learned from your Department’s handling of the local growth fund? Would you change your approach for similar programmes in the future?”

“This inquiry is based on economic growth. For economic growth, we need a workforce. You mentioned metrics at the start of your presentation, Minister Patrick. One of the most challenging that we have in Northern Ireland is that of economic inactivity. The local growth fund was a very important fund in regard to support…”

“You said in an earlier answer that you were the voice for businesses when it came to interacting with other Government Departments and that you were responsible for representing Northern Ireland. In regard to the local growth fund, do you feel you have been an effective voice in Whitehall in articulating those specific…”

“Did you say that the permanent secretary of the NIO chairs the transformation board?”

“You said earlier that she chaired it.”

“Are you directly inputting into an infrastructure strategy as NIO, or is it solely by engagement, sharing best practice and building up what is happening across the UK?”

“Have you any idea when the Executive will publish the strategy that you are inputting to or engaging on?”

“You engaged with the Executive in regard to the preparation of that consultation.”

“Who exactly in the Executive were you engaging with in regard to that?”

“I get that, but your annual report noted ongoing work with the Executive specifically on the development of an infrastructure strategy. You have said that it is devolved, so are you working with the Northern Ireland Executive to develop an infrastructure strategy or not?”

“Will the Northern Ireland Office or the Executive be judged on them?”

“So it is aspirational in aims, and NIO is not looking for a hard metric with regard to a hard number to measure success or failure against.”

“Thank you very much, Minister Patrick. Picking up on Mr Kohler’s points there, are you telling this Committee that you accept the Executive’s targets for growth, investment and employment, rather than the NIO creating or measuring its own? What do you do if the Executive are not meeting those targets, having received g…”

“What about value for profit or value for money input?”

“In his first answer, the Secretary of State said that the recent disorder was a problem that needed to be solved. A fortnight ago, I arranged a roundtable in my constituency that included the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, the police, the Executive Office, the Department for Communities and many other organisation…”