RICS Northern Ireland response to draft programme for Government 2008-2011

The Northern Ireland Executive’s programme for Government 2008-20111 ‘Building a better future’, was published for consultation in November 2007.

This first programme for Government sets out the strategic priorities and key plans for the next four years and has been used to determine the NIE budget and investment strategy, published at the same time. 

Together these documents demonstrate how resources and capital investment will be allocated in support of the priorities.

In its response to the draft programme, RICS Northern Ireland says that the Northern Ireland Executive must do more to encourage a greater focus on sustainability and that financial incentives such as reduced stamp duty as well as rates relief should be considered to encourage more energy efficient homes. 

Chartered surveyors have a valuable contribution to make in achieving these key objectives.

For a copy of the full RICS Northern Ireland response to the draft programme please access the PDF Download panel to the right of this page.

RICS NI also calls for the establishment of an independent local Environmental Protection Agency, the greater use of sustainable construction methods in public construction projects and a concerted effort to address skills shortages across industry, particularly the construction sector.

RICS Northern Ireland also calls on government to wholeheartedly support the concept of a shared future as a means of creating a better future for Northern Ireland and says that the economic, social and environmental benefits of providing one set of services to serve people from across the community would be huge.

The full draft Programme for Government document can be downloaded from the column on the right of this page.