The most senior civil servant at Stormont’s finance department is to brief a Northern Ireland Assembly scrutiny committee amidst an ongoing dispute between the Executive and the UK government over the terms of a proposed £3.3bn financial package aimed at restoring devolution. The government requested that local ministers generate a minimum of £113m, but Stormont parties have stated that they require further funding and had not agreed to revenue-raising as part of the package. Neil Gibson is due to appear before the assembly’s finance committee on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald wrote to the Treasury claiming she had “serious concerns” with the letter detailing the proposed £3.3bn package. She argued that the current offer did not offer a sustainable solution to public sector pay demands, and that the requirement to raise £113m of additional funds within a year would “only serve to cause more harm to hard-pressed families, households and businesses.” The government has proposed that the funding package includes a minimum of £113m being raised through locally generated income.
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) has argued that the package includes “built-in commitments”. These include “publishing and implementing a plan to deliver sustainable finances – including delivery of a balanced budget for 2024-25 by raising a minimum of £113m through locally generated income.” Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has argued that the package would address Stormont’s budgetary concerns and “pave the way for vital transformation of public services.”
First Minister Michelle O’Neill has previously stated that she had “not signed up to revenue-raising” as part of the proposed £3.3bn funding package. O’Neill has insisted that no party had agreed to measures such as water charges. Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly has stated that it was unreasonable to expect individuals to pay more for “poor public services.” Assembly member Matthew O’Toole, chair of the finance committee, has stated that there remain “more questions than answers” concerning what was agreed upon in the financial package
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