WIREDGOV

“This has not been an easy decision.  The government has had to balance the unique needs of Northern Irish business in the face of growing competition south of the border, with the importance of a unified business tax regime as an essential pillar of the UK single market.

“It is vital that the Northern Ireland Executive now drives forward complementary action on boosting skills and infrastructure to make the nation a more attractive place to invest.”

Colin Walsh, CBI Northern Ireland Chair, said yesterday:

“Today’s landmark announcement follows many years of sustained, united lobbying by business in Northern Ireland and this progress will be welcomed by all involved. This recognises our unique geographic position within the UK and the significant strategic challenges we face.

“To realise this opportunity we now need to develop an ambitious plan to maximise economic growth, ensuring we have the skills available to meet the needs of new and existing business. We need to transform the Northern Ireland economy, encourage investment, increase higher value added jobs, and ultimately improve living standards across the nation.

“The Northern Ireland Executive must rise to the challenge to demonstrate how it will pay for this new power. Once established, a clear timeline must be set for taking the appropriate enabling legislation through Stormont in 2015/16 and the Northern Ireland Executive needs to set out early next year a roadmap on how they intend implementing this new power to provide the certainty essential to both domestic and international investors.”