St Andrew's Cash On Way, Says Owen

Northern Ireland will receive the rest of the capital investment funding pledged under the St Andrews Agreement - but the mechanics of when and how it will be delivered have yet to be clarified.

The Government is set to keep a Labour pledge to invest billions in Northern Ireland despite fears that the cash might have been cut in next week's Spending Review by Chancellor George Osborne.

First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness had said the Government was duty-bound to honour an £18bn investment pledge by Gordon Brown during political talks in 2006.

Yesterday, trade union leaders who met Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson (pictured) for talks said they had been told the coalition Government would uphold the investment promise, despite the cuts expected in its October 20 Spending Review.

Irish Congress of Trade Unions representatives claimed Mr Paterson said half the £18bn pledged by Mr Brown when he was PM had been invested, and that the current Government was to proceed with investing the remaining £9.1bn.

The investment package was aimed at infrastructural projects in Northern Ireland and was promised during the talks that led to the 2006 St Andrews political agreement.

However, speaking ahead of an appearance on BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme, hosted by veteran broadcaster, Wendy Austin, today, the Stormont Finance Minister has expressed his fears over when the cash will actually be available.

Mr Wilson said he wanted to clarify whether the money would be made available at the outset, dispersed evenly over the next seven years or only at the end of the period.

"Of course that's important for the construction industry and the infrastructure projects which need to be carried out," he said.

Mr Wilson said he needed to clarify how much of this figure was dependent upon raising money by selling assets or taking on borrowing commitments.

"If he's saying for example, once we get through the next four years a lot of that capital spending will be made available, that's not going to be very helpful to us.

"If it's dependent on us raising money from capital receipts and the Treasury allowing us to keep them, of course it's difficult to sell assets at present, so it wouldn't be very meaningful in the immediate period."

Details

The DUP Minister was also at pains to point out major investments already being funded as part of the initial fillip, and said that he would be seeking a meeting with Mr Owen to clarify when the remaining £9.1bn would be on offer.

He told BBC Radio Ulster listeners that the remaining money could be as late as 2017 - two years after the end of the period covered by the Comprehensive Spending Review being announced next week.

He said the "devil would be in the detail" and he would be seeking urgent clarification with the NIO Secretary of State on the timetable that is anticipated.

Sammy Wilson said that he had just visited the new Public Record Office for Northern Ireland (PRONI) in Titanic Quarter, Belfast this week and said there were many other such examples of how the money already received was being spent - listing schools, roads and the dockside Titanic Signature Project as further examples.

Finance Minister Sammy Wilson said: "In 2009-10 gross capital expenditure by NI departments was £1.7bn.

"Without this unprecedented level of Government investment, in projects such as the new PRONI building, the impact of the economic downturn on the construction industry would have been much worse.

"With the announcement next week of the outcome of the UK Spending Review, however, the reality is that departments will not be able to sustain these high levels of capital investment.

"Nevertheless, I recognise the importance of the construction sector locally and I believe the industry and Government must work together as we enter even more challenging times," he said.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Northern Ireland construction spokesman, Jim Sammon, has also been commenting: "We welcome the Secretary of State's comments regarding the £18bn of capital spending that was promised.

"Northern Ireland has a pressing need for infrastructure investment, where we have seen under-investment for many years.

"This kind of spending is also crucial to the construction industry, which is one of Northern Ireland's most important sectors. Continuing to invest in our infrastructure will allow Northern Ireland to improve its competitiveness, and will help us maintain skills here that will be vital into the future," said the RICS spokesman.

See: DUP Warns Of PM's Muddled Cash Pledge

(BMcC/KMcA)