O’Dowd welcomes funding to sustain vital public services

Funding for targeted action to keep our roads safer this winter and to tackle waste-water constraints has been announced today by Infrastructure Minister, John O'Dowd.

Setting out how money received through the October monitoring round will be allocated, the Minister stressed the areas prioritised for funding underlined how important infrastructure is to all of us.

He said:

"Any extra money allocated to my department is welcome and I make no apology for using that to ensure our roads are maintained and are as safe as they can be to travel on as the colder weather approaches. I am pleased to now be in a position to fully fund my department's Winter Service, or in other words the gritting of our roads when temperatures fall below freezing. This is a public service that often takes place at night while many of us are sleeping and it's easy to take it for granted, but it is vital to keep us all moving safely.

"I have also funded a £1m targeted intervention for gully emptying, given the potential impact of severe weather and resultant risk of flooding. Again, this is often unseen work, but it is vital to keep our roads safer as we head into the winter months."

In addition, almost £19m is being allocated for essential and structural road maintenance and street lighting work.

NI Water is receiving an extra £31m in total, £19.5m of which is capital funding for targeted action to release wastewater constraints, while Translink will receive a combined resource and capital allocation of almost £12m.

Minister O'Dowd said:

"There is much to be done and it will come as no surprise that we have a limited envelope in which to work, which is of course not ideal, but it underlines why we must all do as much as we can with what we have.

"Translink and NI Water will benefit from a total of £43m between them. Given the well documented issues around wastewater constraints, I have taken the decision to allocate half of my Department's capital allocation to NIW so that we can help unlock the housing pressures across the North - a key commitment in the draft Programme for Government."

Concluding, John O'Dowd said:

"Decades of cuts and underfunding have no doubt taken their toll, but I am determined that infrastructure, which is the starting point for everything that makes society work, will continue to deliver positive change right across the North."

Notes to editors:

1. In the October Monitoring Round, the Department has been allocated £22.8m resource and £36.9m capital.
2. All media queries should be directed to the Department for Infrastructure Press Office at: [email protected]
3. The Executive Information Service operates an out-of-hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.
4. Follow the Department on Twitter @deptinfra and on Facebook @DepartmentforInfrastructure and on LinkedIn at Department for Infrastructure.

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