Speaking after today’s meeting the Fermanagh & South Tyrone MLA said, “Last month Translink told the Infrastructure Committee that their cash reserves were set to drop to an “unsustainable level”. Just this week the Infrastructure Minister announced she was sending forensic accountants to Northern Ireland Water because they are set to overspend their budget. It is against that backdrop that the Minister has found £145,000, but it isn’t being used to help Translink deal with financial pressures or to deal with NI Water. Instead, it is specifically directed towards additional signage on a six-month old transport hub.
The financial situation facing public services is severe and with buses travelling along pot-holed roads people will rightly ask about how priorities are set within the Department. The Irish language is something which the Minister obviously places an importance on, but it is right to question whether that ranks above issues such as road safety or fixing the potholes that are littering our roads.
This is a process being driven by the Department and the Minister, so it is right also that the decision-making process is properly scrutinised. We need to know at what stage Translink officials were involved in this process to deal with any questions about their commercial independence also. The Department is responsible for ensuring Translink has the funding to operate so it will be particularly interesting to note whether the issue of unsustainable cash reserves was resolved before funding was directed towards signage.”