Northern Ireland Assembly Election

Jeffrey M Donaldson Excerpts

Tuesday 17th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[James Brokenshire]

Absolutely. I can give that assurance to my hon. Friend, because Northern Ireland has seen so much success in terms of foreign direct investment; I believe it is the region with the greatest foreign direct investment outside the City of London, which underlines the huge potential that I see and the huge ability for Northern Ireland to continue to flourish and do so much more. We absolutely will continue to underline that message.

[Sir Jeffrey M. Donaldson (Lagan Valley) (DUP)]

May I echo the comments made by the hon. Member for Belfast South (Dr McDonnell)? He and I, and many others in this House, have worked hard to bring the peace process to where it today, and we have taken risks, and I despair of where we are just now. May I say to the Secretary of State that if he is going to sit on his hands for the next six weeks and do nothing about the current crisis, he can forget getting devolution up and running three weeks after an election? I support the suggestion made by the hon. Gentleman, for which there is cross-community support: let this Government get on with holding the public inquiry on the RHI scheme that Sinn Féin has blocked.

[James Brokenshire]

The Government will continue to do all they can to support the parties in finding their way through to a resolution. As I have indicated in answers to previous questions, I remain open to considering issues that command cross-community support in order to find answers and get to the root of the issues in respect of the RHI inquiry. I will continue to hear the points that are made on a cross-community basis because, ultimately, whatever is done must command confidence and support in Northern Ireland if it is to be successful.