THE NORTHERN Ireland Executive and Assembly must move urgently to clear the way for major reforms of the UK’s welfare system, or else miss out on hundreds of millions of pounds in benefits, Northern Secretary Owen Paterson warned yesterday.
Four Irish church leaders – Cardinal Seán Brady; Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh Alan Harper; the Presbyterian Moderator, Rev Dr Ivan Patterson, and the Methodist Church’s president, Rev Ian Henderson – met Mr Paterson yesterday. Under devolution, the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland and Scotland must give consent to the Westminster legislation, which is now in its final stages in the House of Lords and is due to receive royal assent early next year.
Following the meeting, Archbishop Harper described the talks as cordial, but stressed that they were “the beginning of a dialogue, rather than the end”, adding that the church leaders still required more information about the plans.
The introduction of a universal credit in place of a plethora of existing benefits, along with tougher rules for disability payments and other benefits, is expected to see Northern Ireland’s welfare benefits fall by more than £600 million, making it one of the biggest losers from the changes.
However, Mr Paterson said the fact that the consent legislation has not yet been put to the Northern Ireland Assembly “means that it will miss out on all of the benefits of the changes and get all of the downside” unless it moves urgently.
“To characterise this legislation as being about savings and cuts is absolutely childish. There are huge gains. This is a whole new way of looking at work,” Mr Paterson told The Irish Times, emphasising that people on welfare will always be better off “even if they take up just an hour of work”.