DUP leader Gavin Robinson has said Northern Ireland “cannot risk a second crisis” on its budget, as he pressed Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant to improve funding for the region.
Relations between Stormont partners Sinn Féin and the DUP have been strained over the parading stand-off at Drumcree. Last month, Sir Chris made what was termed a “final offer” of £1.5 billion extra money, and he has instructed his officials to consider “contingency plans” should it not be accepted.
Executive seeks further clarification
The Stormont Executive has not yet agreed a budget for this financial year, with all ministers agreeing they need more money to maintain public services. Ministers met on Tuesday evening to discuss the budget situation.
Finance Minister John O’Dowd said after the meeting that the Executive is “seeking further clarification” from Sir Chris and the Treasury over the funding, adding he believes there is room for improvement on the offer.
Robinson: Public need certainty
Speaking to the media in Belfast on Thursday, Mr Robinson said the Executive is “constructively asking for a resolution”.
“There is a reality that the Executive is having to deal with, which is a constrained budget, a deficit that is overrunning, and no ability to deal with that in a year,” he said.
“So the Secretary of State can pursue a number of avenues, he can understand realistically that £500 million, though welcome, is insufficient, he can force £500 million, or he can take the law into his own hands, or he can deal with an Executive which is asking for constructively a resolution that would at least allow them to try to balance the books, and I think our public need certainty in this.”
Warnings over public services
He added: “I am pleased that the Executive met this week and came to that position that they did.
“I think it has been dismissed too quickly, too readily, and there will be need for further discussions because one way or other, if this Executive has to deal with the budget that is available as we stand with an additional £500 million, there will be difficulty within our public service.
“There will be an inability to meet public sector pay demands. There could be redundancies in an unplanned way, and certainly a stagnation in the delivery of public services.
“That serves none of us well and when you consider what we’ve been dealing with over the last couple of weeks, and the crisis that Northern Ireland has been injected into because of the intransigence of Sinn Féin, I think the last thing we need is a second and separate crisis, which could destabilise political services and public delivery in Northern Ireland.”
