40% cut in infrastructure spending

BUDGET cuts north and south have resulted in all-island spending on infrastructure being reduced by 40%, noted a conference yesterday in Dublin jointly hosted by British and Irish employers bodies.

The IBEC-CBI Joint Business Council economy and public expenditure forum heard that the combined investment of British and Irish capital programmes will be reduced from pre-crisis levels of €11 billion per annum to just €6.5bn.

The council expressed its concern by the cuts and warned that the severe reductions would have a negative impact on businesses in both economies.