Six EO staff at Ebrington permanently post-Ilex

None of the 18 staff employed by Ilex at the time of the company’s winding-up - there were closer to 30 staff employed at the company at the height of its operations - have been transferred to the Executive office, however.

Four permanent staff are still based at the Ebrington site, alongside two temporary agency staff, whilst an additional four permanent officials are in Londonderry on a part-time basis.

The Executive Office revealed the level of staffing in response to a Freedom of Information request.

“There is a team in place within Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) to oversee the progress of Ebrington Square,” the Executive Office revealed.

“The team currently consists of staff from OFMDFM (including a person seconded to the Department) and the Strategic Investment Board (SIB).

“Four members of this team are permanently based on Ebrington (one from OFMDFM; two from SIB and a secondee to the Department).

“There [are] also two temporary agency staff on site,” the Department stated.

A quartet of staff are also based here a few days each week.

“A further four OFMDFM officials are involved in them management and development of the Ebrington site and are based in Ebrignton for part of the week,” the Executive Office stated.

The recently established Executive Office department has subsumed the former functions of OFMDFM, which included Ilex and the SIB.

Ilex was set up in 2003 by OFMDFM, now the Executive Office, and the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland (DSD), now the Department of Communities, to plan, develop and sustain the economic, physical and social regeneration of the Derry City Council area.