Vol. 396 No. 4
95 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will publish the ESRI analysis on which the Government's decision of May 1988 to add to the list of designated counties was based on the higher level of industrial grants; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The basis for the May 1988 Government decision was a report entitled Designation of Areas for Industrial Policy produced by the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) in September 1985 which recommended objective criteria for determining the areas to be designated. The NESC report, No. 81, September 1985, was published and is available from the Government Publications Sale Office, or directly from the National Economic and Social Council.
An analysis was commissioned from the ESRI to determine on an independent basis the actual areas which merited designation under the NESC criteria and was for the information of my Department only. Accordingly, I do not propose to publish it.
As I indicated in my reply to the Deputy's earlier question on this issue, 12 December 1989, the counties covered by the Government decision were those which merited the highest priority for designation under the NESC criteria.
