Debate contribution: Infrastructure Commission

Debate contribution by Mr Mark Durkan on 29 April 2025.

MLA

Mr Mark Durkan

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

29 April 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Infrastructure Commission

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4921882

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle.

For too long, our delivery of capital projects has been broken, plagued by delay, duplication and dysfunction — arguably, a microcosm of the Executive themselves. We are left with a legacy of delays and overruns, compounded by the malaise of those who are in power and have responsibility.

It is unforgivable and unjustifiable that, at this time of deep financial uncertainty, when many of our schools are crumbling like our roads and thousands of families are without a roof over their heads, we are told that the coffers are empty. Meanwhile, a £3 billion overspend has been squandered across major capital projects in a five-year period. Of course, we recognise the impact of recent cost increases — anyone who has had any work done anywhere knows about that — but it is not just a recent phenomenon. We have seen a decade of lack of delivery and broken promises — Casement Park, the children's hospital, an all-island rail network and the remediation of Mobuoy — and the silence from the leadership is deafening. Report after report from the PAC and the Audit Office have been clear: we have had systemic failure here in how major projects are procured, funded and delivered. It would appear, however, that that clarity has been lost on leadership parties. Recommendations to crack down on duplication, tackle excessive bureaucracy and improve oversight mechanisms and the overall efficiency of capital project management have gone ignored. An infrastructure commission is not just a nice little extra; it is a necessity. Other jurisdictions have seen the merit and benefits of such a provision. Why have the Executive not done so? Do not just take my word for it. The most recent Audit Office follow-up report revealed that only one of the Executive's seven flagship projects that were announced a decade ago has been fully completed. Other statistics in the report are astonishing, but this is about so much more than number crunching; it represents a systemic failure to change the status quo. The absence of any oversight of projects is leading to fragmented accountability and allows those in power to pass the buck. We feel that that is exactly what the amendment attempts to do. The establishment of an infrastructure commission is the vehicle by which to deliver on promises on access to housing and healthcare, decent buildings in which our children can be educated and greater alignment with climate goals. It was SDLP Minister Nichola Mallon who first moved the conversation from aspiration to action in 2020 with the ministerial advisory panel, beginning the steps towards a commission that could anchor infrastructure delivery in evidence, expertise and long-term vision, rather than one that worked to election cycles. The Executive agreed to move that forward. Members may recall some fanfare around that. Of course, we had the collapse of the Assembly in 2022. It is frustrating that, since we have come back, despite my numerous questions in the Assembly and questions for written answer — I am not the only one — the response from the Executive Office has remained largely the same for the past 15 months: the report of the Strategic Investment Board (SIB) review is being considered and the way forward will be a matter for the Executive in due course. The irony of the delay in deciding even to set up an oversight body that is meant to address delays will be lost on no one. Decade-long delays and eye-watering overspend have become accepted as the norm. We heard huge furore around a £150,000 spend on Irish language signage for Grand Central station — a debate that dragged on for weeks — but there was not so much as a whisper or whimper about the fact that the station project itself ran £45 million over the projected £295 million cost. The truth is that the two big parties are complicit in those failures, preferring tit for tat to the tête-à-tête that is required to move projects and this place forward. The commission is not a magic bullet, but it is a start, one that will provide independent expert advice and long-term planning and ensure that every penny spent delivers for people. It must be established alongside planning reform in order to create a more efficient, coordinated approach to building the infrastructure that supports sustainable growth, regional balance and future prosperity. We need leadership that plans not just for the next election but for the next generation. I propose the motion.

Will the Member give way?

The proposal is in the motion that we tabled. We proposed that the Executive create an infrastructure commission. This was brought to the Executive four or five years ago, but the parties have failed to move it forward. There is the proposal —

— there is the alternative.

Here is one.

812 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:27 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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