297 jobs created but just £2.58m granted

However, the amount of financial assistance provided by Invest NI to companies in Londonderry was just £2.58m (2.4 per cent of the NI total) one of the lowest amounts in Northern Ireland.

Jobs Minister Arlene Foster provided the details in response to an Assembly Question tabled by SDLP MLA Colum Eastwood.

He asked the Minister to detail the number of new jobs created from inward investment projects supported by InvestNI during 2010/11 in each constituency.

She revealed there were 297 jobs created here; 10.5 per cent of the NI total. In East Londonderry just two jobs were promoted (0.1 per cent) and in West Tyrone 35 jobs were promoted (1.2 per cent).

The Minister advised the new jobs represented the number of jobs expected to be created by projects.

There were also 545 new inward investment jobs promoted during 2010-11 for which the location has not yet been determined.

Despite having the second highest number of promoted jobs last year Londonderry had one of the lowest levels of financial assistance granted to companies based here.

Just £2.58m was doled out to firms in Londonderry (2.4 per cent). Only seven other constituency areas across Northern Ireland had lower assistance levels.

These included East Londonderry with £1.54m (1.4 per cent) and West Tyrone with £0.83m (0.8 per cent).

The Minister advised there was also £6.27m of assistance offered to clients who have not yet decided where to locate.