Michelle O'Neill rejects claim there's no more money for NI

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 14 Oct, 17:33 · Archive

First Minister Michelle O'Neill has rejected the Northern Ireland Secretary's assertion that there is no additional funding available for the region.

First Minister Michelle O'Neill has rejected Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant's assertion that there is no additional funding available for the region's devolved administration.

Stormont departments have been operating without a budget since the beginning of the current financial year and are currently limited to spending up to 95 per cent of last year's allocation. Ministers in the Executive have insisted they cannot set a budget for 2026/27 without further financial support from Westminster. The UK Government has offered slightly above £1.5 billion over three years to help balance the budget.

Sir Chris said he has made it 'absolutely clear about 17 times now, both to members of the Executive and to others, that there is no additional money beyond the £525 million we have set aside for this year'. He told BBC Radio Ulster it is 'irresponsible' for the Executive to 'keep overspending willy-nilly'.

Ms O'Neill said she and her Executive colleagues 'want to set a budget, but it has to be a fair budget', describing Sir Chris's comments as 'out of touch'. She said her responsibility was to public sector workers and ensuring 'a fair funding envelope that allows us actually to do public sector pay'. Sinn Féin Finance Minister John O'Dowd requested an Executive meeting to discuss next steps.

How it is being reported

• Michelle O’Neill rejects that ‘there’s no more money’ for NI in budget rowSir Chris Bryant said he has made it “absolutely clear about 17 times now, both to members of the Executive and to others, that there is no additional money beyond the £525 million we have set aside for this year”Belfast Live · 14 Oct, 17:10
• Michelle O’Neill rejects that ‘there’s no more money’ for NI in budget rowBelfast Telegraph · 14 Oct, 16:45

In this story: Michelle O'Neill · Sir Chris Bryant · Northern Ireland · Sinn Féin · John O'Dowd

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