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Northern Ireland’s infrastructure record speaks for itself: schemes routinely run late and over budget, and the usual response is tighter cost control. That response misses the point. Standard Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) appraisals, while rigorous, do not capture what a delayed hospital, a stalled data centre corridor, or an unbuilt water treatment works actually costs the wider economy. BCR tells you the ratio; it does not tell you the transformation lost.

The Economic Transformation Index (ETI) is a five-component scoring framework built to close that gap. It looks at each scheme’s contribution across the areas that determine whether infrastructure genuinely shifts Northern Ireland’s economic trajectory — not just whether it clears a cost-benefit hurdle. The result is a ranking based on real transformation potential, not procedural compliance.

We have applied the ETI to all 40 currently tracked NI infrastructure schemes. Every one has been scored and ranked, giving departments, contractors and the public a single, comparable view of where the greatest economic returns are being delayed or deprioritised.

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Andy Burnham was officially declared Labour leader today and becomes Prime Minister on Monday. His first speech set out five commitments: one Labour team with no factionalism; a new politics focused on problem-solving rather than point-scoring; a distinctively Labour direction — “boldly, confidently, authentically us”; a leader for every nation and region, naming Northern Ireland alongside Scotland and Wales; and, most directly relevant here, taking power back from Westminster and Whitehall and returning it to the places where people live — more control over housing, transport, utilities and reindustrialisation.

That fifth point matters for Northern Ireland now. If Burnham follows through on extending devolution beyond England and giving the NI Executive and DfI greater authority over infrastructure spending and delivery, the pressure to demonstrate competent prioritisation will grow accordingly. Announcing powers is straightforward. Showing which schemes deserve those powers, and why, is where accountability begins.

The ETI framework is designed precisely for that moment. It provides a structured, transparent basis for ranking infrastructure schemes by economic and social value — so that decisions about which projects to accelerate can be justified line by line, not just argued politically. The full document is available to download below, including an auditor-level appendix showing every component score for every scheme.

If any department holds more accurate or more current data for a scheme, QUINTIN QS will update the scoring immediately. This index is only useful if it reflects reality, and we would rather correct it than defend it..