About DfI - Permanent Secretary, Emer Morelli

Role

The Permanent Secretary of the Department for Infrastructure is the Minister's principal adviser across the full range of their Ministerial responsibilities.

In terms of the Department's corporate governance arrangements the Permanent Secretary acts as Head of Department and chair of the Departmental Board, as well as being the Accounting Officer.

Career history

Emer Morelli was appointed as Permanent Secretary to Department for Infrastructure in April 2026.

Previously, Emer was Deputy Secretary in the Department for Communities with responsibility for Culture, Arts, Sport, Social Policy and Social inclusion Strategies, the Public Record Office NI and the Historic Environment. 

Emer joined the Department of Employment and Learning in 1998 and has worked in a number of policy areas since then including the Department for Health and the Department of Finance where she was Deputy Secretary with responsibility for Strategic Policy and Reform and Assistant Secretary in Public Spending Directorate.

Emer is a graduate of Queens University Belfast.

The Department

The Department for Infrastructure is made up of approximately 3,000 people who are industrial, professional and technical staff, engineers, planners, policy makers and administrators. DfI industrial and technical staff design, build, maintain and repair roads, bridges and street lights. They also work to ensure that flood risks are mitigated where possible and water courses are managed. Much of this effort takes place outside offices and outside office hours. Many of our teams work anti-social hours in very difficult conditions when necessary; to grit roads; to deal with the aftermath of storms, flooding and fallen trees; and to ensure the enforcement of driver and vehicle licensing laws in the interests of public safety. Under the direction and control of the Minister for Infrastructure we also develop policy options for Ministerial consideration. This includes delivering a long-term water strategy, supporting shifts to more sustainable forms of transport, increasing the efficiency of our key economic corridors and addressing the climate crisis.

Departmental Board

The Departmental Board exists to lead the Department's strategic planning and assist the Permanent Secretary in meeting corporate governance responsibilities for the Department.

The Board provides corporate leadership to the organisation as a whole, takes ownership of the Department's performance, provides support for the Head of Department and provides advice to the Minister.

The key aspects of the Board's role include:

• taking forward the Department's agreed strategic aims
• advising on the allocation of its financial and human resources to achieve those aims
• managing departmental resources and monitoring the achievement of performance objectives
• setting the Department's standards and values
• maintaining a transparent system of prudent and effective controls;
• assessing and managing risk
• leading and overseeing the process of change and encouraging innovation, to enhance the Department's capability to deliver