The Alliance MLA for Strangford was speaking after attending the official launch of Northern Ireland’s Year of Infrastructure, adding the aim over the next 12 months was to communicate to everyone just why Infrastructure is so important.
She added: “I welcome the focus on Infrastructure this year. Infrastructure considers not just roads and public transport but also water, digital network, waste, education, health, leisure and energy.
“The objective this year is to communicate why Infrastructure is so vital to Northern Ireland. It provides a pivotal role in enabling people to go about their daily lives safely. Without access to services and having a good quality of life NI cannot compete in the global markets or attract inward investment.
“For far too long NI has concentrated our public expenditure on dealing with successive crisis’ in health and education. While both are hugely important neither has been modernised or reformed and this means both are draining expenditure away from essential infrastructure connectivity.
“This year I will be working to promote and support Infrastructure with my Alliance colleagues to ensure the whole of NI has safe, accessible and inclusive services.”
Supported by a collaboration of organisations from a wide range of sectors within infrastructure, Northern Ireland’s Year of Infrastructure is a grassroots campaign aimed at everyone, demonstrating how infrastructure connects and protects local quality of life.
Get involved at https://www.infra2018.org/get-involved