Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the number of jobs that have been created in the small business sector in Northern Ireland in the period since the inception of the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland.

The £70million Investment Fund for Northern Ireland has been open for applications since November 2023. From inception to May 2025, a total of £18million has been lent or invested in 35 businesses in Northern Ireland; this investment has also led to the crowding in of an additional £12million in private sector funding.

It is not possible at this early stage to estimate the number of jobs that have been created as a result. The benefits generated by the fund for the Northern Ireland economy, including additional Gross Value Added and jobs created, will be assessed by independent evaluations of the fund, likely to take place in 2026 at the earliest.