The return of the Executive has brought fresh opportunities for the Construction Employers Federation to directly engage on the industries behalf and recently a CEF team met with three Executive ministers.
They included Infrastructure Minister John O’ Dowd MLA who emphasised that DfI is positioning itself as the enabling department within the Executive’s ambition for economic growth.
The Chairs of CEF’s Civil Engineering and Housing Committees, Leo Martin and Martin Mallon, shared their experience of the mounting pressures caused by prolonged underfunding of vital infrastructure underpinning thousands of social and affordable homes, commercial investment, transport links & carbon reduction projects.
The opportunity to refine the current planning system and make it fit-for-purpose was also discussed and CEF look forward to further engagement with the Minister on these and other topics after the Executive agrees its budget allocations for 2024/25.
CEF was also pleased to engage with the Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald MLA and Economy Minister Conor Murphy MLA.
In a wide-ranging discussion, the common theme was the importance of continued collaboration between industry and government in addressing challenges such as funding vital investment in infrastructure, increasing social value and supporting skills development & creation of ‘good jobs’.
Fionnuala McKenna provided an update on the progress of Construction Futures NI, the company set up by CEF & trades unions to proactively support promotion of construction industry careers and skills development, working closely with the Department for the Economy, CITBNI, the NI Skills Council and the wide range of educational providers.
