The man heading-up Northern Ireland's public purse has reassured delegates a Belfast construction conference that further investment in infrastructure is the only way to build a sustainable economy in the Province.

Finance Minister Nigel Dodds highlighted the potential economic, social and environmental benefits to the country from off-site manufacturing and construction.

Addressing representatives, Mr Dodds also underlined the importance of maintaining excellence and promoting modern methods in the Northern Ireland construction industry.

Acknowledging that the industry was experiencing uncertainty, the Minister stressed that the Executive will continue to focus on infrastructure delivery.

He said: "Sustained investment in infrastructure is crucial for the future of Northern Ireland and essential to build an economy that will attract the inward investment that will benefit everyone.

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"Whilst delivering this continuously increasing volume of work, Government remains committed to achieving best value for money. Modern methods of construction provide considerable opportunities to reduce carbon input, achieve faster construction and reduce waste.

"The current economic climate makes it even more important that we all make best use of our resources. We need to seek to place ourselves at the cutting edge of technological innovation to improve our position in the wider commercial context."

The conference, entitled 'Modern Methods of Construction - Building without costing the Earth', was aimed at creating awareness of the opportunities for 'off-site manufacturing' and 'off-site construction' in Northern Ireland.

The event was organised by Constructing Excellence in Northern Ireland, a project funded for a three year period by the Department of Finance and Personnel.

Praising the role of the project, Mr Dodds added: "Constructing Excellence offers the industry a unique portfolio of support. It provides a wide range of services including modern procurement training programmes, research, business performance improvement diagnostics, bench marking and key performance measurement tools - all geared towards improving competitiveness."

(PR/JM)