SDLP's Economic 'Fix' Revealed

Recession-beating ideas are top of the NI agenda this week.

Politicians, business leaders and unions met at Stormont on Monday to try to come up with ways of tackling the economic downturn in Northern Ireland while the SDLP's Mark Durkan (pictured) is claiming to have identified a budgeted £400m that could be used to 'kickstart' the beleaguered economy.

Monday's economic 'task force' was chaired by the First and Deputy First Ministers with First Minister Peter Robinson saying the crisis was "widespread across all sectors of society".

"We will encourage the members of the group to challenge us in what we are doing but also to bring forward solutions," he said.

"Our overall objective is to advise on the best strategy to get us through the present economic turmoil," he said, noting that he will make a full statement on the task force to the Assembly in two weeks.

Meanwhile, SDLP Leader Mark Durkan has unveiled his proposals. He said it was important to "strain every spending line" and specifically, to 'free up' reserve funds held by public bodies.

Speaking on the BBC this morning he questioned the sense of holding back massive financial reserves when the economy and the construction industry in particular urgently needed a fillip.

"We have to recognise that there are reserves being sat on by various public bodies and in this context you have to say are those reserves best used by sitting where they are or should they be borrowed now... and built up again," Mr Durkan said.

"Having money locked up in reserves at a time when we are asking health trusts to come forward with proposals to cut nurses' jobs, with proposals to shut old people's homes and cut children's respite services just does not make sense."

He is also proposing a Belfast city centre site for a sports stadium to help boost the economy.

He said that money could be redirected from the failed £40m Maze stadium project to be invested instead in a stadium located behind the Europa bus station in central Belfast.

Other proposals in the party's discussion paper, 'New Priorities in Difficult Times', include selling off a city centre car park in Belfast's High Street to raise funds.

It also suggests selling the NI Housing Executive's Belfast headquarters, then renting them back, to save £17m - despite the fact that a comprehensive plan to sell and rent back property across the civil service has recently been shelved - at considerable cost.

The SDLP also proposes selling off other 'real estate' such as small forests across Northern Ireland, which are not widely used by the public.

The party also wants to freeze the bonuses and recruitment of grade five civil servants who earn more than £80,000 a year.

Another moot point is their proposal to freeze Assembly members' pay and adjust salaries to three quarters of that earned by Westminster colleagues.

(BMcC/JM)