Greater North-South Infrastructure Spend Needed
Greater North-South Infrastructure Spend Needed
Over 150 business leaders from both North and South met in Belfast this week, under the umbrella of the IBEC-CBI Joint Business Council and welcomed distinguished guest speakers, First Minister Dr. Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
The meeting was briefed on the latest position on the two Governments capital spending plans, following publication in January of the Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland (ISNI).
JBC analysis of the overall public capital programme (including the Republic’s National Development Plan - NDP) reveals that total spending of over £75Bn across the island but also indicates strong disparities in terms of the scale of expenditure at sector level.
The analysis reveals that, when spending is adjusted for population size, the spending pattern is broadly similar North and South in areas such Education and Health. The main disparities are revealed in relation to transport and water services, and are detailed in the table below.
The figures show that over the period of NDP, the Republic plans to invest in transport infrastructure at an annual rate of £880 per head of population, compared with £220 under the North’s investment strategy.
RoI (to 2013) & NI (to 2018)
Public Capital Programmes Compared Per Annum
|
Total RoI £Bn |
Total NI £Bn |
RoI €Bn |
NI €Bn |
Per Capita RoI €’000 |
Per Capita NI €’000 |
Transport |
18.0 |
3.8 |
3.6 |
0.38 |
0.88 |
0.22 |
Water |
7.1 |
3.1 |
1.42 |
0.31 |
0.35 |
0.18 |
Education |
5.4 |
4.1 |
1.08 |
0.41 |
0.26 |
0.24 |
Health |
4.2 |
3.6 |
0.84 |
0.36 |
0.20 |
0.21 |
Total |
56.3 |
19.3 |
11.2 |
1.93 |
2.75 |
1.14 |
Commenting on the figures, CBI NI President Brian Ambrose said: “The priorities for NI are to deliver increased productivity, innovation and exports, generating higher GDP per capita. The target is to create 141,000 new jobs by 2015, including 5,000 high quality jobs per annum.
World-class productive infrastructure is an urgent priority if we are to deliver on the aspiration to generate greater FDI, increased business start-ups and faster growth of existing indigenous businesses.
The JBC analysis indicates that the volume of planned spending under ISNI will not be sufficient to deliver world class infrastructure, particularly in relation to roads investment and close the gap with the Republic and other UK regions.
Accordingly there is a need for the Executive to partner with the private sector in an effort to maximise the investment contribution under PPP-PFI, as well from other instruments such as developer contributions”
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