NI industry welcomes Finance Minister’s announcement

QPANI says extra funding will help sustain and create jobs in construction industry and its supply chain

THE Quarry Products Association Northern Ireland (QPANI) has welcomed Finance Minister Sammy Wilson’s June monitoring round announcement that of some £200 million of Executive funds which are being reallocated, much of it will be directed into areas that will sustain and create jobs in the local construction industry and its supply chain.

QPANI regional director Gordon Best (pictured) said: ‘We welcome the Minister’s announcement of an additional £59 million for the Department for Regional Development (DRD), of which half will go on additional road maintenance schemes. This will help sustain 800 jobs within the construction materials supply chain.

‘We also welcome the additional money that will see quicker delivery of much-needed health projects, while the additional support for the co-ownership scheme will assist in supporting the recovery in the housing market. We also welcome the news that Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP) officials will initiate an immediate review of capital spending plans for 2014/15, to ensure that projects can be expedited as quickly as possible.’

QPANI says it will be seeking clarification from the DRD on where the £59 million will be spent and encouraging the Minister and officials to ensure the additional allocation manifests itself through work and activity on the ground. ‘For every £1 million spent on construction 22 jobs are sustained in local communities,’ said Mr Best.

The Association has also welcomed the Chancellor’s commitment last week to increase public investment in the UK to more than £50 billion per year from 2015/16. This, it says, will have a positive impact on Northern Ireland construction material suppliers exporting high-quality aggregates and precast concrete products into Great Britain.

Mr Best continued: ‘We have now welcomed the words; now we need a greater sense of urgency and accelerated delivery, both locally and nationally, to create confidence for the private sector to invest to really boost growth.

‘While there are visible indications of an improvement within the construction industry, albeit that the rate of decline has slowed, we in Northern Ireland need to get much better at delivering infrastructure projects in order to support jobs and give our young people hope for the future.’

Mr Best cited the delay in the A5 project and the new Police and Fire Service training college at Cookstown as current examples of why Northern Ireland’s procurement process needs improving.

‘We recognize the priority and importance that Members of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Ministers now give to investment in our infrastructure. We must collectively work together to ensure jobs are protected and new ones created, and the social benefits that are created for local communities, through investment in construction, are maximized,’ he said.