Defence: Northern Ireland
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his Northern Irish counterpart on the expansion of Northern Ireland's defence workforce.
Answered by Luke Pollard
Northern Ireland plays a vital role in the defence of the UK, as demonstrated by the £1.6 billion deal with Thales that the Prime Minister announced on 2 March 2025. The deal will see 200 new jobs created at Thales in Belfast, and hundreds more supported in the Thales supply chain across the UK.
The Ministry of Defence has consulted with a wide range of stakeholders in Northern Ireland on the Government’s new Defence Industrial Strategy, which will seek to create high quality jobs across all the nations and regions of the UK.
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