David Ford MLA said: “The establishment of this working group is a further step closer to the decision to devolve the power to vary corporation tax. The fact that it is joint working group with Ministers from Westminster just shows how seriously the Government are taking our calls for the Northern Ireland Assembly to be given these powers.
“Westminster has been very responsive to calls from Northern Ireland politicians on areas that have not been devolved but on such an important economic issue, it should be our Assembly and Executive that makes the decision as to whether this power gets devolved.
“I would however like to see this working group include other Ministers outside of OFMDFM and the Enterprise and Finance Departments. This issue has knock on effects for many other Departments such as Employment and Learning, who would have important points and issues to raise.
“I also believe that on an issue as important as this, the working group should contain Ministers on a cross party basis.”
ENDS