Northern Ireland can’t ignore alternative financing methods as a way of helping fill its widening infrastructure investment gap, the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) says today.

Speaking following an RICS Northern Ireland briefing for property and construction professionals on the subject - also addressed by Simon Hamilton MLA who is set to succeed the current Finance Minister - RICS Northern Ireland spokesman, Professor Alastair Adair, says that Public Private Partnerships and other alternative methods of finance can play a crucial role in economic growth.

"PPPs are not a panacea, nor are they a replacement for publically funded procurement. But PPPs certainly shouldn’t be discounted, and should be considered as one potential solution to help ensure quality infrastructure," Professor Adair said.

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"There is an undeniable connection between economic competitiveness and the quality of infrastructure, and Northern Ireland has both a significant infrastructure deficit and significant constraints in terms of funding investment through the public sector," he continues.

"PPPs sometimes get a bad name due to some particular examples of their application, but they have in fact made a substantive contribution to the upgrading of infrastructure around the world. This has in turn made a considerable economic contribution.

"By learning from best practice and implementing it here, Northern Ireland should consider and has the potential to use alternative methods of finance to support and augment other means of funding," he added.

RICS has published a research paper on the subject entitled The Future of Private Finance Initiative and Public Private Partnership following research by a team from the University of Ulster and Aberdeen University.

It highlights that as the global economy emerges from recession into a new financial paradigm, a new crisis in terms of a deficit in global infrastructure budgets awaits.

The report also outlines some of the key issues in relation to utilising PPPs and PFIs and highlights best practice from around the world.

(GK)