Northern Ireland’s budget is “at breaking point” and needs additional funding from the UK government, Ministers have warned.
Speaking after a lengthy meeting of the Northern Executive on Thursday, First Minister Michelle O’Neill said “the picture that was painted by all Ministers today when it comes to delivery of public services is stark”.
The Executive is to request a meeting with UK prime minister Keir Starmer.
O’Neill said the budget was “very much at breaking point”, which was the reality “of the allocation that we have been given from London”. She said Ministers were making “a direct appeal to the British prime minister to meet us in a cross-party delegation.
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“The budget realities that we face are so challenging and so dire and so difficult that he needs to listen to the concerns that all of us are expressing on behalf of the people that we collectively serve,” O’Neill said.
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said the Executive’s message to the prime minister was “simple: this cannot wait. People cannot wait.
“We need a comprehensive package of support, and we need it now, because behind every statistic is a family and behind every decision we make [there] must be a determination to stand with them,” she said.
People in Northern Ireland have been badly affected by the impact of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, which has led to an increase in the price of both fuel and home heating oil, used in two-thirds of Northern households.
These price rises are happening against a backdrop of significant financial pressures within all Stormont departments, particularly in health and education.
A draft multiyear budget was published in January, but has not yet been agreed by the Executive parties.
In February the UK treasury said it would make an additional £400 million (€460 million) available to allow Stormont to balance its budget, and the UK government has repeatedly said it needs to live within its means and consider additional revenue-raising measures.
O’Neill said the “starting point here is an inadequate budget”, which had left every Minister with a funding shortfall in their department.
“We’re not asking for special treatment, we’re asking for what’s fair and right and appropriate, we’re not afraid to duck any of the hard decisions,” she said.
Earlier on Thursday, Minister for Communities Gordon Lyons announced that more than 300,000 low-income households would receive a £100 voucher to help offset the rise in the price of home heating oil.
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The scheme will be paid for by £17 million announced earlier this year by the UK government, and an additional £19.2 million from the Northern Executive.
