Al Pinkerton
Main Page: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)Department Debates - View all Al Pinkerton's debates with the Northern Ireland Office
(3 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Dr Al Pinkerton (Surrey Heath) (LD)
Yesterday, Belfast Chamber, which represents 600 businesses, warned that many Northern Irish businesses are being forced to freeze growth plans, halt recruitment and, in some cases, cut jobs to absorb rising costs as a consequence of the rising employer national insurance contributions due to take effect in just four days. What assessment has the Northern Ireland Office made of the impact of those tax rises on small and medium-sized enterprises, and what practical discussions is the Secretary of State having with the Northern Ireland Executive to support SMEs, which are the future of Northern Ireland’s growth?
Hilary Benn
Of course the increase in employer’s national insurance will be difficult for some firms—that is clearly the case—but, as I said, the North Ireland economy is growing faster than the rest of the United Kingdom and has low unemployment. The rest of today’s questions time has highlighted the huge areas of potential that the Northern Ireland economy has to continue to grow and create new jobs and businesses.