Department for Regional Development

Northern Ireland
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The Department for Regional Development (DRD, Irish: An Roinn Forbartha Réigiúnaí;^[3] Ulster-Scots: Männystrie fur Kintra Pairts Fordèrin)^[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 Regional Development.

Aim

DRD'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 Danny Kennedy (Ulster Unionist Party).^[7]

Responsibilities

The department's main responsibilities include ^[8]

• 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: ^[9]

• navigation (including merchant shipping)
• civil aviation

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

• the Department for Transport;^[10]
• the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (on water);^[11]
• the Department for Communities and Local Government (on planning).^[12]

In the Irish Government, its main counterparts are:

• the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport;^[13]
• the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (on water and planning).^[14]

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 Regional Development.

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 is 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:

• between 12 February 2000^[15] and 30 May 2000;^[16]
• on 11 August 2001;^[17][18]
• on 22 September 2001;^[19][20]
• between 15 October 2002^[21] and 8 May 2007.^[22]

Since 8 May 2007, devolution has operated without interruption.

Ministers for Regional Development

	Minister	Image	Party	Took office	Left office
	Peter Robinson		DUP	2 December 1999	11 February 2000
Office suspended
	Peter Robinson		DUP	30 May 2000	27 July 2001
	Gregory Campbell		DUP	27 July 2001	24 October 2001[23]
	Peter Robinson		DUP	24 October 2001	14 October 2002
Office suspended
	Conor Murphy		Sinn Féin	8 May 2007	16 May 2011
	Danny Kennedy		UUP	16 May 2011	Incumbent

Direct rule ministers

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

• Adam Ingram (2000)
• Angela Smith (2002–03)
• John Spellar (2003–05)
• Shaun Woodward (2005–06)
• David Cairns (2006–07)

See also

• Committee for Regional Development

References

External links

• DRD
• The Departments (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 PDF (37.0 KB)
• Traffic Watch Northern Ireland