The events surrounding the demise of construction giant Carillion should be "thoroughly investigated", as the international construction company faces inevitable liquidation, Sinn Féin's Chris Hazzard has said.

The South Down MP said: "It's imperative in the short term that the Government, and local agencies such as the Housing Executive here in the north of Ireland move quickly to protect jobs and ensure contracts are taken forward and delivered in the interests of the public purse.

"However we must not shy away from the harsh reality that yet again a huge corporation has in its hour of need, turned to the public for a bailout. This was never the correct course of action; and the British Government were right not to nationalise the losses and allow shareholders and creditors to walk away from their responsibility.

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"All too often the public has been asked to shoulder the financial burden of these monster corporations - corporations who never think to nationalise their profits, but always seek ways to nationalise their losses."

Mr Hazzard also added: "For the best part of a year this company was in serious financial distress, however the British Government and local agencies such as the Housing Executive kept feeding it construction contracts worth billions of taxpayers' money. This raises serious questions regarding the integrity of the due diligence process.

"There is no doubt that Carillion is now a textbook example of the failures of outsourcing and privatisation. We need to move beyond this failing model. It simply should never be the case that shareholders and profit margins matter more than schools and patients."

(MH)