Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether she will make an assessment of the contribution to the economy of Northern Ireland of the Port of Cairnryan in Dumfries and Galloway constituency.

The UK Government recognises the importance of the ports sector in our trading activity, as a vital part of intra-UK trade and wider export success, tourism and transport connectivity. As well as underpinning so many industries, we recognise too the important contributor the ports sector makes to the economy in their own right, though have made no specific assessment of the ports in question.