Finance minister walks tightrope

The Northern Ireland Minister of Finance, Mr Mark Durkan, is in the middle of discussions about his upcoming Budget and spending round, just as is his counterpart in the Republic, Mr McCreevy. But the two men have very different problems.

Mr McCreevy is spoilt for choice and has more than enough money with which to do what he likes. Mr Durkan, on the other hand, is part of probably the most consensus-driven government in Europe. He cannot make any decisions; everything has to be ratified by the entire Cabinet, or Executive Committee.

In some ways this might have its pluses, as it would be well nigh impossible for Mr Durkan to get himself into hot water in the same way as Mr McCreevy for producing a controversial proposal, such as individualisation.

However, Mr Durkan likens running his department and negotiating the various agendas to renegotiating the Belfast Agreement over and over again. One of the main SDLP negotiators of the agreement, Mr Durkan certainly knows how to deal and to compromise.

A former flatmate of RTE's Joe Duffy when both were presidents of the different branches of the Union of Students in Ireland, he returned to Derry to work for SDLP leader Mr John Hume.

The big difference between Mr Durkan's job and that of Mr McCreevy is that the former does not have any tax-raising power. That is not altogether a bad thing and he points out that raising taxes does not come free.

In any case whatever Northern Ireland raised in tax would simply be discounted by the Treasury in London. At the moment about £5 billion to £6 billion sterling (€8.3 billion to €10 billion) comes from London. The UK Exchequer also contributes another £3 billion to £4 billion for social welfare and CAP payments.

The problem is really the future funding of the North. The formula now used - the Barrett formula - has been in existence for years and catches Northern Ireland "in a ratchet", while the Scots do very well out of it. Education spending in Britain is around £1 per person in the system but, because of the younger population in Northern Ireland, it amounts to only 76p. The system has to be changed to become more needs-based, Mr Durkan believes.

A different corporation tax regime to the rest of Britain, allowing the North to better compete with the Republic for mobile foreign investment, does not appear to be on the cards. The British Exchequer would simply not wear it, as it would mean that Scotland or other regions could go looking for the same deal.

Contrary to the common perception of Northern politics, even the ministerial bilaterals are a consensus exercise and overseen by the offices of the First and Deputy First Ministers. Mr Durkan's job is to make sure all decisions reflect the Programme for Government and to "assist" the various departments in what this actually translates into. "There are no macho machinations in Stormont," he insists.

"But that does not mean it is all sweetness and light. We are not the political equivalents of an Aer Lingus cabin crew."

There are new policies and programmes that target resources according to need. So far, the Assembly is working very well, even with two Cabinet members absent. But it is early days and the real test, according to Mr Durkan, is what the impact on local democracy and accountability is seen to be.

The other area he controls is personnel and here, similar to the Republic, one of the issues is the location of civil service departments. These will be reviewed to reflect a range of considerations, including regional development, social needs and operational effectiveness, as well as cost. But he merely laughs at the suggestion that this could mean a relocation of finance to Derry. The long commute gives him time to work away from distractions, he says.