The construction of the new, state of the art £270m acute hospital near Enniskillen, is estimated to sustain as many as 850 jobs on site of which 200 will be 'new' by the time it opens in 2012.

While many of those employees on the Co Fermanagh site come with the main contractor, FCC Elliott Healthcare, many more have been sourced from locally-based sub-contracting firms, six of whom have been awarded substantial sub-contracts.

As many more local firms are engaged on site in servicing sub-contractors.

Among the main sub-contractors is Tracey Concrete Ltd which employs 92 people at its plant at Old Rossorry, Enniskillen. Those jobs have now been safeguarded by the hospital contract.

Managing Director, Patsy Tracey said that the new hospital contract was, "the most substantial prohject to come to Fermanagh in the last 25 years".

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"We were delighted to get the contract to supply all the ready mix. There are days we have up on 800 metres of ready mix going on site six days a week. It is a substantial contract for us which will continue till spring time. It's safeguarding our own jobs as well as the jobs of all our suppliers, cement, sand and stone. That's the knock-on effect it has."

Fermanagh District Council received official confirmation from the Western Health and Social Care Trust of the 2012 completion date and, also, an update on the spin-off for the local economy.

The Council Chairman, Bertie Kerr said the members were pleased to hear that the general construction programme was on schedule, with the present focus on sub-structure works, piling and external works.

He went on: "The site has been a hive of activity over the past few months, with the numbers of workers already on site touching around 150. The scale of the construction project, currently the largest in Northern Ireland, will require a total construction workforce of around 850 full-time equivalents, while numbers will peak on site at 700 in August neat year."

Earlier this month, the NI Health Care Group and their construction contractor, FCC Elliott hosted a 'Meet The Buyer' event in Fermanagh College. The aim of the function was to stimulate an interest among experienced local contractors in some of the tenders now on offer.

To date, among the locally-based firms awarded sub -contracts are - McElwaine Security, Lisnaskea; McGrory Contractors, Lisnaskea; Steel Solutions (NI) Ltd, Derrylin; Tracey Concrete Ltd, Enniskillen; The Clarke Group, Lisnaskea, and Conwell Civil Engineering, Brookeborough.

(BMcC/KMcA)