28 January 2008

Dear Colleagues,

One way the NI Assembly works is through committees of MLA's who review the work of each government department and minister. This week I had the opportunity to brief the Regional Development Committee on our progress and plans.

It is good to report that the MLA's were fully aware of and acknowledged the success we have delivered in all our businesses. Indeed, the Chairman of the committee noted that he "could not recall another business which had been transformed so successfully in such a short period of time". This is a reflection of all your hard work - well done.

Also, while on politics, this week the Minister told the Assembly that he and the Minister of Transport in the south of Ireland had asked ourselves and Irish Rail to examine options to upgrade the rail service to Dublin. We are working on this.

Lastly, the Minister of Finance this week announced the final budget for NI 2008-2011. There were no changes for us from the draft budget announced last October. The final budget will be voted on by the NI Assembly in the next week or so.

Philip O'Neill,

Acting Chief Executive

P.S. Apologies - we did not get this email sent on Friday before IT started work on the network.

Chairman of the committee noted that he "could not recall another business which had been transformed so successfully in such a short period of time"