To ask the Minister of Finance and Personnel for (i) an update on the Northern Ireland Investment Fund, including progress on the feasibility study and (ii) when the outcomes of this study will be published.

The feasibility study is the first step towards establishing a Northern Ireland Investment Fund. Over the last three months consultants Deloitte have advanced this study, which included consultation with a wide range of local stakeholders.

The study is on course to complete in the next few weeks and following its conclusion the cross departmental Project Board, established to take this work forward, will consider the implications. My officials will also need to liaise with their European Investment Bank counterparts. This should then result in a set of policy recommendations, which I intend bringing to the Executive. Only when I have Executive agreement on the way forward, can I inform the Assembly on the exact nature of the proposed Fund.