The news that the aerospace company Bombardier has been granted planning permission to build a major energy plant in east Belfast is “good for the city and good for the economy”, according to NI Conservatives’ Europe spokesman, Mark Brotherston. He added that energy costs in Northern Ireland “can cause serious problems for industry and damage our international competitiveness”.
“It’s welcome that Bombardier can now press ahead with plans to build this facility”, Mark noted. “Constructing and running the plant will create new jobs directly, as well as protecting existing jobs, by lowering energy costs and making the company more competitive in the longer term. In Northern Ireland we must come to terms with the fact that our high energy costs are a significant problem for certain industries and put us at a disadvantage when we’re competing with other parts of the world.”
“Bombardier has come up with a creative solution to its particular energy problem. We need to encourage more companies to pursue these types of projects. We also have to focus on how to lower energy prices for business, by developing a clear strategy, which looks at how different sources of energy can be mixed and how costs can be lowered. That means finding a way to push forward with important projects like a biomass burner for the poultry industry, which the agri-food industry desperately needs, as well as other stalled waste incinerator projects. The key is a ‘can do’ approach, which finds suitable sites quickly, solves problems, rather than allowing them to bring progress to a grinding halt, and always focuses on creating jobs and competing with the rest of the world.”