Asked by: Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice - North Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what dates his Department made payments to the Causeway Initiative for Peace-building and Conflict Resolution International; for what services those payments were made; and what the value was of each payment.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The Ministry of Defence has no record of any payments made to the Causeway Initiative for Peace-building and Conflict Resolution International.
Asked by: Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice - North Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what contracts, consultancy arrangements, advisory roles or other formal agreements existed between his Department and the former Member for Lagan Valley in relation to work undertaken in Colombia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Iraq and Afghanistan; and what payments were made under each arrangement.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The Ministry of Defence has no record of any formal agreements with the former Member for Lagan Valley, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, in relation to work undertaken in Colombia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Iraq and Afghanistan, and as such, no payments were made.
Asked by: Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, (i) in which countries the former Member for Lagan Valley undertook business, trade promotion, investment, consultancy or related activities on behalf of the Government; (ii) on what dates those visits took place; (iii) what the purpose of each visit was; (iv) which organisations, businesses or other entities were engaged with during each visit; and (v) what costs were met from public funds in relation to each visit.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The former Member for Lagan Valley was a United Kingdom Trade Envoy for Egypt and Cameroon from 2015 under the previous Conservative government until he was removed in 2024. During this time, he undertook multiple visits to both countries in his role to promote the UK governments Trade and Investment agenda.
All Trade Envoy activity was undertaken under the direction of UK Officials in country, and all expenses came from the programme budget, however the specific itemised costs incurred are not centrally held and could only be produced at disproportionate cost.
Date | Country | Engagement |
September 2023 | Egypt | Trade Mission on Education |
December 2022 | Cameroon | Trade mission, cross-sectors |
February 2022 | Cameroon | Trade Mission on renewable energy |
June 2019 | Egypt | Trade mission on healthcare |
December 2018 | Egypt | Trade Mission on defence, education, and finance |
September 2017 | Egypt | Infrastructure Trade Mission |
February 2017 | Egypt | Visit to discuss priority UK sectors |
July 2016 | Egypt | Trade Mission on IT, Security, and Education with UKEF |
February 2016 | Egypt | Soft power and relationship visit |
Asked by: Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice - North Antrim)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the value is of deductions made from Troubles Permanent Disablement Payments under Regulation 19 in respect of payments made to former members of (a) the Royal Ulster Constabulary, (b) the Ulster Defence Regiment, (c) the Royal Irish Regiment and (d) other branches of the Armed Forces.
Answered by Sarah Owen - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)
The Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme is administered by the Victims’ Payments Board, with oversight by The Executive Office. As such, the Northern Ireland Office does not hold this information. I would encourage the Honourable Gentleman to direct his questions to the Victims’ Payments Board directly.
Asked by: Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice - North Antrim)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many awards under the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme have been reduced pursuant to Regulation 19 because an applicant receives (a) a War Disablement Pension, (b) an Ministry of Defence Injury on Duty Award and (c) a police Injury on Duty Award.
Answered by Sarah Owen - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)
The Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme is administered by the Victims’ Payments Board, with oversight by The Executive Office. As such, the Northern Ireland Office does not hold this information. I would encourage the Honourable Gentleman to direct his questions to the Victims’ Payments Board directly.
Asked by: Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice - North Antrim)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many successful applicants to the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme have had their monthly payment reduced to (a) less than £10, (b) between £10 and £25 and (c) between £25 and £50 as a consequence of Regulation 19.
Answered by Sarah Owen - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)
The Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme is administered by the Victims’ Payments Board, with oversight by The Executive Office. As such, the Northern Ireland Office does not hold this information. I would encourage the Honourable Gentleman to direct his questions to the Victims’ Payments Board directly.
Asked by: Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice - North Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to HMRC's letter of 21 August 2026, ref CEDEL/4628028/2026, if he will commission an assessment of the impact of the Republic of Ireland's agricultural VAT flat-rate scheme on Northern Ireland producers.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Chancellor of the Exchequer does not currently have plans to commission an assessment of the impact of the Republic of Ireland’s agricultural VAT flat-rate scheme on Northern Ireland producers.
Asked by: Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice - North Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the RAF provided air defence in Irish airspace for the visit of President Trump to the Republic of Ireland.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK and Ireland work closely together on shared security challenges under the refreshed UK-Ireland Defence Memorandum of Understanding which prioritises cooperation in the air, cyber, and maritime domains. However, the UK is not responsible for defending the airspace of Ireland. Matters relating to the defence of Ireland remain for the Irish authorities, and any enquiries on those issues should be directed to them.
Asked by: Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice - North Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to HMRC’s letter of 21 August 2026 (ref. CEDEL/4628028/2026), on what date the Government became aware of the review undertaken by the Irish authorities referred to in the second paragraph of that reply, and through what channel that information was received.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
HMRC became aware of the review undertaken by the Irish authorities on 11th August 2026. It was brought to our attention by a query relating to it, to which we provided the response referenced CEDEL/4628028/2026.
Asked by: Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice - North Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment HMRC has made of the potential impact of the judgment of the Court of Justice of 12 October 2017 in Case C‑262/16 on the operation of agricultural flat‑rate schemes on the island of Ireland.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
HMRC has not made any assessment on the impact of this judgment on the island of Ireland.