Executive plans flawed - Alliance

David Ford said executive had no fresh ideas

Northern Ireland's Programme for Government "lacks ambition", Alliance Party leader David Ford has claimed.

The executive was failing to tackle the most important issues facing Northern Ireland, he said.

Mr Ford was unveiling his party's response to the Programme for Government, the key points of which he described as "meaningless".

He said the executive "must not condemn Northern Ireland to a second-rate future".

Alliance's aims were tackling sectarianism, re-balancing the economy and integrated and sustainable public services, he said.

"The Programme for Government fails to confront the issues of most concern, fails to match targets to actions, and fails to match actions to resources," said Mr Ford.

"It is a flawed document from what appears to be a weak and ineffectual executive.

"Judging by the size of the PfG (Programme for Government) document, this executive is obviously aspiring to creating the paperless office," he said.