Dodds must consider North Belfast needs before implementing Bain Report

12.04.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 1st Oct 2008

North Belfast Alliance Party representative, Gerry Lynch

North Belfast Alliance Party representative, Gerry Lynch, has warned that the Independent Review of Public Sector Jobs, led by Sir George Bain, published this week, looks bad for North Belfast.

Gerry Lynch said: "The Bain Report proposes moving more than 4,000 public sector jobs out of the Greater Belfast area. It seems to me that Bain was told to maximise the number of jobs that could be moved out of Belfast and did as he was told.

"This report takes no account of the fact that the highest levels of unemployment and low pay in Northern Ireland are in Belfast. 18 of the 20 most deprived communities in Northern Ireland are located within 3 miles of Belfast City Hall.

"While I agree that every region should have its fair share of government jobs, I do not agree that what this report proposes represents 'fair shares'. It makes absolutely no sense to move government jobs from Belfast, with its high levels of deprivation, to a prosperous town like Ballymena.

"Bain has also shown little consideration for the distribution of the jobs within the Greater Belfast area. It is important to spread jobs throughout Belfast and the suburbs. This would mean more government employment in areas of high deprivation, encourage spin-off jobs in the same areas, and cut down on the worsening traffic chaos in the City. Government also needs to tackle the segregation and sectarianism that means, for example, that many people in North Belfast are wary of taking up work in big civil service offices located in parts of East Belfast.

"Nigel Dodds, who is our local MP in North Belfast, will be responsible for taking this report forward. I urge him to remember the needs of his own constituents rather than pushing these proposals on the nod."

ENDS