Warning over economic development
Northern Ireland's Finance Minister Sammy Wilson addresses an all-Ireland investment conference in Dundalk
Thursday March 11 2010
Northern Ireland's Finance Minister Sammy Wilson used a keynote speech in the Republic to warn that his government has not done enough to develop its economy.
The DUP representative told an all-Ireland investment conference in Dundalk that Stormont ministers had worked hard to ease the burden of the economic downturn on families, but he signalled that they had yet to produce enough pro-active policies to create jobs.
Mr Wilson branded the delivery of longterm economic growth as "disappointing", claimed it was difficult to find any new policies over recent years, and said more needed to be done in the future.
In a signal to Northern Ireland ministers, some of whom have already complained at cuts to their budgets, Mr Wilson warned of a need to redirect funding towards economy boosting projects.
"Our Programme for Government was published over two years ago and I believe that when you look at the progress we have made in developing our economy's long term growth potential since then, the outcome might be judged rather disappointing," he said.
"If I ask myself what we have achieved as an Executive in terms of policies to promote economic growth, I can point to a number of short-term demand-side focused initiatives.
"We have frozen domestic rates, we have delayed water charges, and we have introduced fuel subsidies for poor households. These measures have served as an immediate stimulus during a difficult time and demonstrated the Executive's ability to act swiftly in response to the economic downturn."
But he added: "I would argue, however, that we have not done enough to advance long-term economic growth. We need to ensure that we do not lose sight of the importance of improving the supply-side of our economy."
Mr Wilson said: "The Executive will soon begin to develop our new Programme for Government. Our current number one priority is 'growing the economy' but I worry about how we have actually delivered on this. It is difficult to see any significant change in policy focus toward economic growth over the last few years."
The conference was also attended by Irish government Minister of State Martin Mansergh. The Government is funding infrastructure projects in Northern Ireland, including multimillion-pound investment in a road link between Derry and Aughnacloy, plus improvements to the Belfast/Larne route.
