Ó Muilleoir welcomes finance for Intertrade Ireland

“A planned unilateral cut to the Intertrade Ireland budget cut by Minister Bell will now not go ahead. Instead, he has pledged an additional £206,000 to Intertrade Ireland for the coming year, representing an 8 per cent lift on 2015 funding.

“In the Assembly today, I welcomed the Minister’s engagement over Christmas and the New Year with Intertrade Ireland and his Dublin Ministerial counterpart, Richard Bruton, on these budget difficulties.”

Given that 50 per cent of Intertrade Ireland’s work is with Northern Ireland companies and has helped create 3,000 jobs and spurred £1bn in cross-border trade, Mr Ó Muilleoir added it was “crucial that funding is not only maintained but increased for Intertrade Ireland in the time ahead”.