Employment and Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry has visited Caterpillar (NI) Limited in Larne to see first-hand the training being delivered for the company's Material Handler project.

In October 2013 the First and deputy First Minister announced that Caterpillar were investing more than £7million in a major manufacturing project in Northern Ireland to be able to assemble Cat Wheeled Material Handlers. The Department for Employment and Learning provided financial support worth £220,000 through its Assured Skills Programme to assist with the training requirements. The training is being delivered by Northern Regional College (NRC) and Belfast Metropolitan College (Belfast Met) at two of Caterpillar's Northern Ireland plants with NRC providing training at Monkstown and Belfast Met delivering training at Larne.

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Minister Farry said: "It is encouraging to see the development of this new project in Caterpillar and to see how the company is moving into a new field with the manufacture of material handlers. This diversification into a new area of business will help secure current jobs with Caterpillar in years to come and widens their portfolio of products.

"It is pleasing to see the investment by my Department delivering skills training to employees, whilst demonstrating successful collaboration between the Department’s Assured Skills Branch, Further Education Colleges and Caterpillar. To date, there have been 12 companies supported through the Assured Skills programme and when all 3,068 jobs are created, this will benefit the local economy by £86 million each year."

(CD/MH)