Institutional change’ ahead for Invest NI

Ulster Unionist member of the Assembly Enterprise, Trade and Investment committee, Leslie Cree MLA, has welcomed a report into the activities of Invest NI, agreeing that "well thought out institutional change is clearly necessary".

"This substantial report offers some positive recommendations for the reform of Invest NI (INI), including a critique of its bureaucratic structure and culture and the need to be less compliance-driven. These sound like perfectly reasonable proposals.

"Importantly it argues that a greater percentage of resources should be redirected towards innovation and research and development, with INI disengaging from direct involvement with venture capital funds, acting instead as a facilitator.

"It comes as no surprise that the report recommends greater joined-up working between the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI), the Department of Employment and Learning (DEL) and Invest NI, however a ‘knee-jerk’ Departmental amalgamation is far from a quick fix for many of the issues raised.

"Quite simply, DETI functions primarily as a regulatory body while DEL is concerned with service delivery. These are very different organisations with very different roles, and any reorganisation would inevitably create short-term costs and some element of disruption.

"These are all factors to be borne in mind while considering a report that raises some interesting issues."

ENDS…