AQO 3752/22-27 Oral question to the First Minister and deputy First Minister
To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister for an update on the establishment of an independent, expert-led infrastructure commission.
Asked by Peter McReynolds MLA on 11 June 2026
- Answered
- Oral
- Answered in the Chamber
- Tabled
- 11 June 2026
- Answer due by
- 22 June 2026
- Answered
- 22 June 202611 days after tabling
- Department
- The Executive Office
- Priority question
- No
Answer
Answered in the Assembly Chamber on 22 June 2026. Extract from the Official Report (Hansard), including any supplementary questions:
Mrs O'Neill
We are determined to improve the process to ensure that more of our capital projects are delivered on time and on budget. Two work streams are under way that will help to shape decision-making on the best way forward. First, TEO and Strategic Investment Board (SIB) officials are continuing to address the recommendations from the recent review of SIB, including the provision of greater strategic support to the Executive. Secondly, the enabling action plan associated with the draft investment strategy is a key element of tackling the underlying issues that contribute to delays in infrastructure delivery. There are a number of actions, including the development of an infrastructure needs assessment. We will use the findings from those work streams as part of our considerations on the best way forward. Ultimately, obviously, decisions will be a matter for the Executive.
Mr McReynolds
First Minister, the Institute of Directors and the Construction Employers Federation are still calling for the establishment of an independent, expert-led infrastructure commission some five years after it appeared on page 27 of the previous Executive's COVID recovery plan, to which you were a co-signatory. It was also welcomed by previous Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon. What has contributed to the delay, and why are departmental responses on the topic becoming shorter rather than longer?
Mrs O'Neill
I can say to the Member that we are absolutely committed to ensuring that we can deliver our capital projects better, on time and on budget. We saw some of the difficulties in the past, with projects running way over time, often because of legal challenges and cases. We need to find ways to ensure that we can deliver our projects better.
An infrastructure commission is one potential part of that picture. It is one idea that has been advanced and that we have not ruled out. We have asked officials to consider more widely how we can improve the way that we deliver infrastructure projects, and an enabling action plan will be a key element of that.
Infrastructure commissions tend to focus on future needs rather than the practicalities of delivery in the here and now, so what is the right balance in how we proceed? Again, if we are going to establish another body, that will have to come to the Executive for decision. We have to do the other legs of work in order to inform a final decision.
Mr Speaker
We move to topical questions.