To ask the Minister for the Economy, further to recent correspondence in relation to the petition opposing the development of the Mourne Mountains Gateway Project, to detail any parties who will or may be involved in decision-making, subsequent to the initial decision taken by the council.

A decision, initially by Council, on whether the project will proceed to construction will only take place once the Council has obtained a fuller understanding of the costs and the environmental and wider sustainability and feasibility issues. The Council’s decision making will be documented in a Full Business Case which will be subject to approval by the Belfast Region City Deal’s Executive Board, Tourism Northern Ireland, the Department for the Economy and the Department of Finance. Funding for the construction phase of the project will not be released until the Full Business Case is approved by all relevant parties.