Local Conservatives have slammed the Stormont Executive for “targeting private sector firms first with cuts, rather than setting its own house in order”.
“Stormont departments have a deplorable record of waste and inefficiency”, NI Conservatives’ economy spokesman, Johnny Andrews, noted. “Yet budget cuts have been aimed immediately at people working hard for private sector companies. 3fivetwo, the private medical group, has had to lay off 50 people, because of being targeted in this way. That comes hot on the heels of MFS laying off 11 staff, as a result of cuts by the Department of Regional Development, and regrettably Minister Kennedy announced that most of his departmental cuts will be hitting private sector subcontractors, so more job losses will probably be on the way.”
“It is bitterly ironic that, at a time when Northern Ireland needs to rebalance its economy toward the private sector and find a way of reducing the size of and increasing the efficiency of the public sector, Stormont ministers are doing exactly the opposite. Targeting private contractors makes no sense. The Executive needs to make the public sector more effective, if it is to build a successful, sustainable economy, into the future.”
“It’s easier for ministers to target private sector workers rather than tackle long term problems with working practices and lack of efficiency within their own departments. Like so many of the repeated failures we see at Stormont, this boils down to a lack of responsibility by the parties in charge. They refuse to take the difficult decisions which are a vital part of government, preferring instead the easy option and the short-term fix.”