government officials yesterday said it was “unsatisfactory” that information required for a decision about plans to redevelop Belfast’s former Maze prison had not been made available.
Leo O’Reilly, the Depart of Finance and Personnel’s permanent secretary, was appearing before the Northern Ireland Assembly’s finance committee, which is considering whether development of the Maze is economically viable.
The outline business case predicts development would create 4,121 jobs, but Jack Layberry, the department’s head of supply, said that neither the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment nor Invest Northern
Committee members were also told that planning restrictions meant the site was worth a fraction of its potential value.
O’Reilly responded: “We can say to departments, as we have said, the information and the way it’s been presented looks unsatisfactory, there’s gaps, there’s inconsistencies, there seems to be lots of information which could be presented in a better way, it’s not available on jobs… I mean completely unsatisfactory.”
Sinn Fein assembly member Jennifer McCann said she did not believe enough information had been produced to allow officials to reach a decision on whether the Maze development was economically viable.
