East Derry MLA Gerry Mullan
SDLP MLA for East Derry Gerry Mullan has criticised the Minister for Communities following an exchange in the Assembly chamber today in which the Minister wrongly assumed that Northern Ireland would not be disadvantaged following a vote to leave the European Union.
Said the MLA: “Vote Leave and its supporters have characterised much of this EU Referendum by their Trump-esque approach to facts. Once again they’ve got it wrong – this time on the crucial impact of investment to Northern Ireland from the European Investment Bank.
“Today I asked Paul Givan how he could square welcoming the substantial support from the European Investment Bank for our social housing stock, with his party’s stance on the Referendum. He told the chamber leaving the EU would have no detrimental impact in terms of Northern Ireland continuing to receive support.
“It would be difficult for the Minister to be more at odds with how the EIB views the situation. Just last week it informed us that ‘future support for long-term investment in the UK by the EIB could be at risk’ in the event of a Brexit vote.
“The Minster is correct that the EIB does invest outside the EU but I can only hope that he hasn’t yet examined those figures because the reality of being on the outside and asking for support is deeply alarming.
“In the last eight years the combined investment to all EFTA countries was eight billion euro.
“The UK alone in that time received six times that – 42 billion euro.
“Furthermore the long-term uncertainty the UK would experience in the event of leaving the EU would make long-term investments from the EIB highly unlikely.
“With a likely decrease of the UK’s credit rating and consequential increase in interest rates, the UK’s economic future is far from the rosy, uncomplicated picture that the Minister and his party wishes to paint. ”
