Small building firms in Northern Ireland are feeling the effects of political deadlock at Stormont, according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) NI.

Northern Ireland has been without an executive since January 2017 due to a political fallout over the botched Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.

New research by FMB NI into the views of NI's small and medium-sized construction firms has revealed nearly 60% of firms said the absence of a devolved Government has already impacted their firm negatively or very negatively. In addition, 86% of respondents said that the absence of a devolved Government in Northern Ireland has already impacted the economy negatively or very negatively.

Overall, the most commonly-cited impacts of the political stalemate on NI's construction industry are;

• Knock-on impact on the wider economy because of major projects not being taken forward

• Fewer public sector opportunities

• Necessary Government decisions about economic development, housing and other issues not being taken

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• Increased difficulties recruiting as more young people and skilled workers leave to find opportunities elsewhere

• Consumer confidence has been impacted

Gavin McGuire, Director of FMB Northern Ireland, said the ongoing political turmoil "is seriously undermining our construction industry and the wider economy".

"We know that it has already had a negative impact on the ability of SME firms to grow and prosper," he said.

"Worse still, many firms think that the worst is yet to come, with even more predicting a negative impact in the future should this continue. This is a particular shame given that before the collapse we heard positive messages from the relevant Ministers regarding increased investment in homes and infrastructure projects. Any progress that we were making towards a programme of well-targeted capital spending has now been wasted."

Continuing, Mr McGuire said FMB NI is aware the uncertainty has caused many problems for smaller builders.

"The most commonly cited issue is a knock-on impact on the wider economy due to the fact that many major construction projects are not being taken forward," he said.

"This has certainly been the case with large-scale projects such as the Hightown incinerator, located just outside of Belfast. Planning permission for incinerator was overturned because of lack of Ministerial sign-off in May 2018.

"With Brexit less than a year away, now more than ever we need strong and decisive political leadership that can tackle the considerable headwinds that face our sector. We are already contending with rising material costs, growing skills shortages, and a planning system that continues to hold back house builders.

"We therefore urgently need the political system to return to normality so that our construction firms can plan for the future."

(LM)