The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has urged the Northern Ireland Executive to take on social division as a key objective of its capital spending policy.

In its submission to the consultation on the Executive's Programme for Cohesion, Sharing and Integration (CSI), RICS said last week that due to public spending pressures, there is now an increased imperative to eradicate the cost of division.

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The organisation, which has 3,000 local members and a remit to act in the public interest through its Royal Charter, points out that, in addition to costing the public purse directly, ongoing division in Northern Ireland hinders efforts to attract foreign direct investment and to increase tourism.

They said that the actual cost of division has been disputed, but what is clear is that it is debilitating and unsustainable.

In addition, the cost of the double provision of services of a divided society, we also know that Northern Ireland has lost out on a huge amount of tourism and inward investment over the years.

"Every effort should be made now to ensure that we are able to deal with and reduce the cost of division, which hampers our economy so significantly," said Ben Collins, RICS Northern Ireland Director.

(BMcC/KMcA)