NI Conservatives’ economy spokesman, Johnny Andrews, has said it is encouraging to see signs that the manufacturing and construction sectors in Northern Ireland are improving, but he warned against complacency and noted that “the executive has unused tools in its locker to make sure that our recovery doesn’t lag behind the rest of the UK”.
“There is certainly some encouragement in the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index figures”, Johnny explained. “But there is also plenty of evidence that Northern Ireland is lagging behind the rest of the UK, especially where construction orders and levels of employment are concerned. If you look at the regional statistics we are near the bottom of the league table in most areas and the executive has not been doing what it can to create jobs and get the economy recovering.”
“George Osborne has provided upwards of £226 million extra for construction projects which are ready to start and much of this cash has not been put to use. The executive really must start to spend this money immediately, to create jobs and boost the sector. There is also the issue of enterprise zones, and I’m encouraged to see that Simon Hamilton is at least travelling to Wales to look at how these work as hot spots for growth in the rest of the United Kingdom.”
“However the executive has allowed us to fall desperately behind on this issue. We’re missing out on round after round of spending which has been set aside for this purpose to boost the private sector and get people into employment. We need to see a ‘can do’ approach to these projects, so that our recovery does not stall, because of an administration at Stormont which simply does not respond to the needs of business.”