SDLP Ballyarnett councillor Rory Farrell
In the last three financial years there were 687 Invest NI foreign investor visits to Belfast and 15 to Derry.
Between January and September 2020, there were 1176 jobs announced by Invest NI in Belfast and 29 in Derry.
The proposal was made by the SDLP’s Rory Farrell, the chair of Council’s Business & Culture committee.
Addressing the committee, the Ballyarnett representative said: “We have spoken about Invest NI’s performance a number of times.
“We’ve invited them to come to this committee and they’ve come, and they’ve been open and honest with us.
“But an outstanding action is for Economy Department officials to come here to speak about regional balance, about sub-regional targets.
“We’ve been asking for this since February of last year and they still haven’t come to see us.”
Added Cllr Farrell: “And I note in the anti-poverty strategy that’s being developed, there’s a recommendation in there that Invest NI should have plans and targets in place for geographical inequalities in employment and unemployment.
“We’ve been saying this for quite some time. It’s our council’s position. So, that’s the outstanding action. We need to move this on.
“We need a commitment from the Economy Minister and Invest NI that they’re going to operate differently.
“That they are going to recognise that Derry & Strabane and the north west has the highest rates of unemployment and economic inactivity.
“And there needs to be a targeted approach to fix that once and for all.”
