ASSEMBLY TACKLES LEGACY OF UNDER FUNDING

FINANCE Minister Mark Durkan has said the legacy of under-funding public services in Northern Ireland means it is essential that the NI Executive explore new ways of financing and providing much needed services.

Speaking on Tuesday July 3 during the debate on a report into Public Private Partnerships (PPP), published by the Committee for Finance and Personnel, Mr Durkan said: “Under direct rule our vital services were under-funded for years. The Executive is determined to break those patterns of under-funding but as we have already stressed, the resources available for funding our public services are finite and are already stretched by the need to provide services at greater levels of need than the UK average.

“It is therefore essential that we research and examine carefully how we fund and deliver public services especially in areas such as education and health.

“It is only through various forms of partnership, including Public Private Partnerships, that we can realistically hope to see the sort of modern, well resourced and well managed public services that our people deserve for the 21st century.

One of the key recommendations in the Committee’s report is that support of key players is essential. A ‘social partnership’ approach including involvement from the private and voluntary sectors and local communities should be used to achieve that support. Mr Durkan added that as a result, the report deserves very serious consideration by all those with an interest in the future development of the infrastructure of our public services.

The Minister reported that the high-level Working Group set up to review the use of PPP in public services would report its findings by March 2002: “This Working Group will obviously consider evidence on the benefits or otherwise of PPP from many quarters and in particular the valuable research findings and recommendations set out today in the Committee’s report.”

In a joint statement Mr Dermot Nesbitt and Mr Denis Haughey, Ministers in the Office of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister welcomed the report: “The Executive has to address a legacy of many years of under-funding in the infrastructure of our public services which means that currently many parts of the public services require levels of capital investment far in excess of the resources available to us. The Executive needs to examine all options carefully and objectively, and develop a clear policy in this area.”

(AMcE)