Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland)

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI, Irish: An Roinn Bonneagair;[3] Ulster-Scots: Depairment fur Owerstructur )[4][5] is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister for Infrastructure, Nichola Mallon.

Department for Infrastructure
Department overview
FormedMay 2016
Preceding Department
  • Department of the Environment
    Department for Regional Development
JurisdictionNorthern Ireland
HeadquartersClarence Court, 10–18 Adelaide Street, Belfast, BT2 8GB
Employees2,279 (March 2019)[1]
Annual budget£291.4 million (current) & £268.2 million (capital) for 2018–19)[2]
Minister responsible
Websitewww.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk
Northern Ireland
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Up until May 2016, the department was called the Department for Regional Development.

Aim

DfI's overall aim is to "improve quality of life by securing transport and water infrastructure and shaping the region's long-term strategic development".[6]

The incumbent Minister is Nichola Mallon.

Responsibilities

The department's main responsibilities include [7]

  • regional strategic planning and development;
  • transport strategy and sustainable transport;
  • public roads;
  • public transport;
  • air and sea ports;
  • water and sewerage services.

Two transport matters are reserved to Westminster and are therefore not devolved: [8]

DfI's main counterparts in the United Kingdom Government are:

In the Irish Government, its main counterparts are:

Agencies
  • Transport NI: Responsible for ensuring that measures are taken to implement the roads aspects of the Regional Transportation Strategy for Northern Ireland 2002–12 and that the public road network is managed, maintained and developed. Roads Service is responsible for just over 25,000 kilometres of public roads, approximately 9,000 kilometres of footways, 5,800 bridges, 257,700 streetlights and 370 public car parks.

History

The Ministry of Home Affairs was established on the formation of Northern Ireland in June 1921 and was responsible for a range of non-economic domestic matters, including local government. A separate Ministry of Health and Local Government was formed in 1944 and was subsequently split in 1965, to create the Ministry of Development. An environment ministry existed in the 1974 Northern Ireland Executive and the ministry was known as the Department of the Environment under direct rule.

The DoE is still a phrase used in everyday language in Northern Ireland to describe the Roads Service, which was once run by the department but is currently an agency of the Department for Infrastructure.

Following a referendum on the Belfast Agreement on 23 May 1998 and the granting of royal assent to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 on 19 November 1998, a Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive were established by the United Kingdom Government under Prime Minister Tony Blair. The process was known as devolution and was set up to return devolved legislative powers to Northern Ireland. DRD was one of five new devolved Northern Ireland departments created in December 1999 by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and The Departments (Northern Ireland) Order 1999.

A devolved minister first took office on 2 December 1999. Devolution was suspended for four periods, during which the department came under the responsibility of direct rule ministers from the Northern Ireland Office:

Since 8 May 2007, devolution has operated without interruption.

Ministers for Infrastructure
MinisterImagePartyTook officeLeft office
   Peter RobinsonDUP2 December 199911 February 2000
Office suspended
   Peter RobinsonDUP30 May 200027 July 2001
   Gregory CampbellDUP27 July 200124 October 2001[22]
   Peter RobinsonDUP24 October 200114 October 2002
Office suspended
   Conor MurphySinn Féin8 May 200716 May 2011
   Danny KennedyUUP16 May 20111 September 2015
   Michelle McIlveenDUP21 September 20156 May 2016[note 1]
Office renamed Minister for Infrastructure
   Chris HazzardSinn Féin25 May 201626 January 2017
Office suspended
    Nichola MallonSDLP11 January 2020

Direct rule ministers

During the periods of suspension, the following ministers of the Northern Ireland Office were responsible for the department:

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See also

References
  1. "Annual Report and Accounts" (PDF). Department of Infrastructure. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  2. "Annual Report and Accounts" (PDF). Department of Infrastructure. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  3. "Gaeilge" (in Irish). Department for Regional Development. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  4. "Ulstèr-Scotch" (in Scots). Department for Regional Development. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  5. Depairtment for Regional Oncum is also used by the North-South Ministerial Council.
  6. Northern Ireland Budget 2011–15, page 91
  7. "Home". Infrastructure.
  8. Participation, Expert. "Northern Ireland Act 1998". www.legislation.gov.uk.
  9. "About us". GOV.UK.
  10. Defra: Water Archived 20 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  11. "Planning and building - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk.
  12. Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: About Us Archived 17 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  13. "Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Mission Statement".
  14. Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Commencement) Order 2000
  15. Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Restoration of Devolved Government) Order 2000
  16. Article 1, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Suspension of Devolved Government) Order 2001
  17. Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Restoration of Devolved Government) Order 2001
  18. Article 1, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Suspension of Devolved Government) (No.2) Order 2001
  19. Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Restoration of Devolved Government) (No.2) Order 2001
  20. Article 1, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Suspension of Devolved Government) Order 2002
  21. Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Restoration of Devolved Government) Order 2007
  22. Office suspended for 24 hours on 11 August 2001 and 22 September 2001

Notes
  1. Resigned on 21 September 2015, re-entered office on 23 Sept. till 24 Sept., then 30 Sept.-1 Oct. 2015. Following the 20 October she permanently occupies the office
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