Additional construction funding for Northern Ireland
QPANI and the wider construction industry welcome extra funds for housing and infrastructure
THE Quarry Products Association Northern Ireland (QPANI), which represents 95% of the aggregates, concrete and road building companies in the province, has welcomed the promise of additional construction funding, as announced by the Finance Minister in the October monitoring round.
QPANI regional director Gordon Best (pictured) said: ‘Minister Wilson’s announcement of an additional £10 million of funding towards affordable homes schemes in this financial year and each remaining year up to 2014/15, and further investment of £13.1 million to the Department for Regional Development, most of which will go towards road repairs, is warmly welcomed by our members and indeed across the whole of the construction industry.’
News of the extra funding, which QPANI say will help sustain jobs and inject some badly needed hope into the beleaguered local industry, came a week after the publication of the most recent Northern Ireland Construction Bulletin, which showed that the volume of construction output in Northern Ireland has now fallen for 36 consecutive months and is currently 38.2% lower than its peak in the first quarter of 2007.
In addition, the recently published Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment 2010 Minerals Statement has revealed that, last year, the production of construction aggregates from the province’s quarries was at its lowest since records began.
QPANI says it recognizes that Northern Ireland’s Executive Ministers are constrained financially, but believes they do appreciate the vitally important role that the wider construction industry plays in sustaining the local economy.
‘We need to continue to lever every possible penny into activities that create and sustain jobs and give hope to our young people,’ said Mr Best. ‘The reality is that without investment in our infrastructure and a sustainable housing market, our young people will face no choice but to seek a career and a living abroad.
‘We would appeal to our politicians to make rebuilding the construction industry a key priority in the forthcoming Programme for Government. We would also call for the publication of our Economic Strategy, similar to that of Scotland, and in it to put investment in infrastructure and housing at the top of the list.’
