McAllister concerned by claims of political interference by Social Development Minister

Alliance Belfast Castle representative, Nuala McAllister, has expressed her concerns at allegations made by The Detail into possible claims of political interference by the Social Development Minister regarding social housing in North Belfast. Nelson McCausland met with Housing Executive officials, along with his DUP colleagues on twelve occasions.

Nuala McAllister said: “I am very concerned by these allegations. There may have been a conflict of interest by the Minister taking his DUP colleagues to Housing Executive meetings.

“After the allegations made in the Spotlight programme last year, I would have thought that the Minister would have avoided such circumstances where he could have been accused of acting inappropriately.He is bringing his office into disrepute.

“Nelson McCausland must now provide clear answers to the allegations that have been made against him and his colleagues.

“It is disappointing that there continues to be arguments over the level of social housing for Protestants and Catholics. We need to see real shared housing initiatives to dramatically reduce social housing waiting lists. The Social Development Minister has a target of creating 10 shared neighbourhoods in the ‘Together: Building a United Community’ strategy, yet the Minister has achieved no progress on this proposal. This shows a lack of commitment by the Minister to creating shared housing.”

ENDS