NI Conservatives’ enterprise spokesman, Johnny Andrews, has welcomed the emphasis on increased capital spending, announced by the Chancellor in his Autumn Statement.
“George Osborne has delivered an enormous boost to the construction industry in Northern Ireland, providing an extra £132 million pounds for projects which should be ready to start”, Johnny explained. “We know that spending money on infrastructure like this is one of the most effective ways to stimulate the economy. £1 of government spending generates around an extra £7 for Northern Ireland, so the Chancellor’s plans can make an enormous difference.”
“To date the executive at Stormont has not done enough to boost construction, as we’ve seen from recent job losses at the Patton Group and now at the Hughes Group. It has delayed investment, scheduling the lion’s share of monies to be spent toward 2015. It has refused to look at water charges, which deprived that industry of hundreds of millions, which are badly needed to update infrastructure. It has also allotted half of its budget for improving roads to the A5 project, which was unwanted by many people and, as a consequence, is now mired in judicial reviews.”
“The executive needs to spend the money it receives from today’s announcement more wisely, for instance by upgrading the A6 road between Belfast and Londonderry. Most importantly, it must direct the funds to schemes which can be started quickly, in order to create jobs and stimulate the Northern Ireland economy immediately. The Chancellor has made that possible with his announcement today.”