Delays and a lack of proper oversight are jeopardising the transformative aims of Northern Ireland's City Deals, Alliance Deputy Leader Eoin Tennyson MLA has warned.

"Northern Ireland's City Deals have the potential to be game-changing for local communities and our wider economy, but major delays on progressing the projects is putting that opportunity in serious jeopardy", Mr Tennyson said. The Upper Bann MLA, who is also the party's finance spokesperson, spoke after a Northern Ireland Audit Office report found minimal movement on key City Deal projects since funding was agreed in 2018. The watchdog said only 8% of the available investment has been spent, with close to £40 million a year at risk of being lost due to continued delays. It also criticised weak oversight of progress and limited efforts to ensure value for money.

"The glacial pace of progress since funding was secured in 2018 is utterly unacceptable, and this isn't just stifling the ambitions of the City Deal projects, but squandering tens of millions of pounds of the available funding at a time when the Executive must make every penny count.

"The Audit Office has uncovered a catalogue of failures in the management of City Deal projects and the checks in place to ensure value for money. That should be an urgent wake up call for the Finance Minister. If he doesn't get to grips with the situation soon, there is a real risk that the potentially transformative impact of City Deals investment will be lost forever."