The Executive have been accused of delivering "more of the same" with their draft budget, despite an uplift in funding available from the UK Government.
Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald announced the draft budget on Thursday and among her proposals was a rise in rates.
Other announcements included investment in a childcare strategy, £12.3m allocated to DAERA to support farmers through a Just Transition and £11.6m to the Department of Education to meet the full costs of delivering the Fresh Start Schools projects in 2025-26.
Responding to the draft budget, the SDLP's Leader of the Opposition, Matthew O'Toole said that there were a number of things to be welcomed from the proposals, but much like the draft budget itself, they were long overdue.
"There is welcome investment in a childcare strategy, violence against women and girls and a just transition to protect our environment, but it’s impossible to escape the fact that this budget will not help solve the problems we are facing around healthcare, housing, education, public services and other key areas," he said.
“Nobody expected this budget to solve all of our problems overnight, but this was rushed out before Christmas and we are not seeing the change of direction needed. To look at this budget, you would never think the Executive had received its biggest financial uplift in many years and the use of this money is questionable. Even in positive moves around childcare, the Executive has not ring-fenced all of the money handed out by the UK Government from their own spending in that area.
“This budget is about putting a sticking plaster on our failing public services rather than delivering the vision and transformation needed to change things for the better. It is totally devoid of any meaningful link to the Executive's own Programme for Government and they have repeatedly shown they are incapable of taking tough decisions. Instead of dealing with our most pressing problems, every Minister fights for their own small piece of the pie.
“The Finance Minister claims this budget is about ‘doing what matters most’, it looks more like the Executive doing what’s easy, kicking the can further down the road and paying lip service to the desperate need for transformation of our public services instead of delivering it.”
People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said that the budget does little to heal the damage of previous cuts.
“Last year, the Tory government told Stormont it needed to raise £113 million to invest in public services,” Gerry Carroll said. “But rather than raising taxes and scrapping rates relief for hugely wealthy corporations, the Executive is increasing the regional domestic rate by 5 per cent. This is yet another financial burden placed on working class communities. It seems that Executive parties are hell-bent on continuing to punish the public and unwilling to challenge the UK Government on the terms of this rotten restoration deal.
“Other budget allocations are simply too little, too late. £50 million for the Childcare Strategy represents just 12.5 per cent of the £400 million needed to fully fund commitments. £20 million to prevent further deterioration in the schools’ estate pales in comparison to the £450 million needed to address the maintenance backlog. £105 million for investment in NI Water falls far short of what’s needed to fix crumbling wastewater infrastructure and protect our waterways from devastating pollution.
“Ultimately, this budget does little to heal the extensive damage done to public services after over 15 years of austerity cuts. Ordinary people shouldn’t be punished for political and economic failures of ruling elites.”
Despite the UUP leader and Health Minister Mike Nesbitt expressing concern that the paper as it stands does not place sufficient emphasis on tackling Northern Ireland’s spiralling waiting lists, the party gave it a cautious welcome.
UUP Finance Spokesperson Dr Steve Aiken said: “Whilst it is a positive step that the Executive have for once been able to consider a draft Budget before the start of the financial year, I suspect few Ministers would seek to claim that this a good outcome. Pressures will continue to exist across many of our most important public services, and that regrettably will especially be the case in Health.
"Despite the oft stated prioritisation of Health, this Budget does not tackle the enormous challenge of our waiting lists. In fact, there has been an appalling de-prioritisation as the limited allocation of £34m that had been provided to the Department of Health specifically for waiting lists in 2024/25 has now even been removed.
"This stands in total contrast to the public pronouncements regularly made by other Executive Ministers and parties. Quite frankly, looking objectively at the issue and considering some of the other allocations that have been made, one can only come to the conclusion that in the circumstances of Health and the sheer and obvious level of need, neither the DUP nor Sinn Féin would have done this to one of their own had they been at the helm of the health service. Quite frankly once again patients and our health workers have been left to pay a price of a political carve up and that is an appalling realisation whenever lives are literally at stake.
"Nevertheless, I welcome that a draft Budget will now go out for public consultation. I would urge as many people and organisations to engage in that process."
Dr Aiken said that the Finance Minister baselining this draft budget from the end point of last year’s budget is in marked contrast to the "farce of pretending that the current budget had to be based on the previous starting position" and said that there was "a degree of accounting wizardry that convinced no one, especially our vital health care workers."
"We also point out that even in this future £19bn budget there is still a lack of proper recognition of the importance of not just Health, but Education and Policing as well. It is also clear that Agriculture will need to be adequately supported as ring fenced funding ends, but there is insufficient provision to do so.
"Again, there is no indication that the woes of our infrastructure deficit are being tackled, as it does now appear that the Infrastructure Minister has not made much of a case for the use of RRI, FTC or even looking at utilising our National Wealth Fund. No doubt those awaiting new social housing, stuck in traffic, being fined for using bus lanes or waiting for non-existent public transport will take note”
Welcoming the draft NI Budget, Suzanne Wylie, Chief Executive, NI Chamber said: “Businesses will welcome the publication of the draft NI budget for 2025 / 26. After a difficult UK Budget, we hope it will help deliver greater certainty for firms here.
“Whilst we recognise that tough choices need to be made, with more money available to Northern Ireland than ever before, in the next financial year we hope to see real progress in areas like wastewater, childcare and decarbonisation.
“We will take time to review the draft in detail and recommit our own pledge to working in partnership with the Executive in 2025 in pursuit of an ambitious, globally competitive and sustainable economy in Northern Ireland.”
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