Some £220 million of unspent government money would be available in the next financial year, the North's finance minister promised yesterday.
Mr Ian Pearson, the minister at the department of finance and personnel, admitted that the money - 3 per cent of the £7.1 billion allocated to Northern Ireland by the British exchequer - would not be lost despite the under-spend. "There is no question of any loss of funding to Northern Ireland."
Mr Pearson said it had been intended to carry over some of the 2003-04 allocation for spending and investment projects next year.
"We had intended that some £186 million would be carried forward into 2004-05. This approach is designed to ensure we get the maximum benefit from the resources available to us - sometimes this means taking extra time to plan and deliver the projects and services concerned."
Referring to capital projects aimed at the North's crumbling infrastructure, Mr Pearson added: "I am concerned that more should be done to speed up the delivery of the government's infrastructure investment programme.
"The Strategic Investment Board has been established to oversee and co-ordinate the delivery of this programme, and I have asked the SIB and the departments to ensure that action is taken wherever possible to ensure more rapid progress on individual capital projects over the coming year."
Some £460 million is being carried forward. This includes the £220 million under-spent, £186 million which had been pre-planned for carrying forward, and £53 million relating to Peace II EU funding programme which has not been used. Of the £220 million, £157 million relates to capital investment where the reshaping of programmes has meant the money being carried forward by a year.