Mr. Steve Harper:

I can take the Deputy's first question concerning the role of Joe Kennedy III. He has been a phenomenal friend to Northern Ireland and to business in Northern Ireland. He is coming towards the end of his term with the US elections coming up next month. We are not so sure of what will happen beyond that point. The Deputy has rightly pointed out that this time last year Mr. Kennedy brought a delegation of US companies to Northern Ireland. It was very much about awareness-raising and bringing his contacts and some of those large organisations to take a look at what we had to offer in Northern Ireland. It was very beneficial to us. We are negotiating with several companies represented on that inward mission. What is sometimes overlooked, however, is his ability to help companies in Northern Ireland to access the US market. He has again opened his black book of contacts to make introductions. One example is a sports technology mission that we brought from Northern Ireland. This involved bringing several companies in the sports technology arena across to Boston and New England. Mr. Kennedy was very good in arranging meetings and access to allow companies from Northern Ireland to present their wares and goods. We would not have been able to do that without his assistance. To answer the Deputy's question, then, yes, he has been a super support, not just for Northern Ireland but specifically for Invest Northern Ireland. Mr. Kennedy has been a great aid to us.

To respond to the second question from the Deputy on the Northern Ireland economy and how it is doing, it feels like it is doing well. As I mentioned in my open statement, exports are increasing. We have a population of 1.9 million people. Our job in Invest Northern Ireland is to help to grow the economy through those businesses and we are not going to grow the economy by selling to ourselves. It is crucially important, therefore, that we have exporting and external sales right at the top of our agenda. We have record low levels of unemployment in Northern Ireland, but this misses the point that we have still got some stubbornly-high economic inactivity rates. We want to do everything-----