It will be “thoroughly shameful” if Stormont hands £80 million back to the Treasury which the Conservative led government has provided for infrastructure projects, according to NI Conservatives’ economy spokesman, Johnny Andrews.
“The loss of this money is expected to happen within days, because our executive cannot decide how to spend it and the issue was pushed to the side at the latest meeting, because of this obsession with parades and flags”, Johnny explained. “We’ve been calling consistently for Stormont ministers to use the cash which the government has provided for infrastructure. These projects are a direct stimulus for the economy, creating more construction jobs, as well as leaving Northern Ireland with the schools, hospitals and roads it needs into the future.”
“It is absolutely shameful that the executive cannot make basic decisions like this. It is failing completely to live up to the responsibilities of government. There should be a pipeline of infrastructure projects pre-prepared to exploit the extra monies which George Osborne has consistently made available to Northern Ireland. There are any number of road and rail projects which should be ready to go. The sad truth is that this £80 million will be just another substantial drop in an ocean of waste, inefficiency and ineptitude from an executive which is not fit for purpose.”