Andrew Muir calls on Stormont executive to get budget ‘over the line’

The Stormont executive needs to get a budget “over the line very soon”, Agriculture minister Andrew Muir has said.

The Alliance minister “the time to set a budget is now” as their partners in the power-sharing executive continue to argue that an agreement cannot be reached on the current funding package from Westminster.

With no budget set for the region, departments are restricted to spending only up to 95% of last year’s funding.

The UK Government has offered an extra £1.5 billion over the next three years in an effort to assist with balancing the books, but Stormont’s leaders insist that is not enough.

The Alliance party leader Naomi Long said the Executive “needed to accept the reality” that there was no more money coming from London following a budget meeting earlier this month.

Ms Long said ministers were left with a choice in terms of the £1.5 billion on offer from the UK Government: “Do we take it or do we cut our nose off to spite our face?”, adding she did not believe the Government was “playing games or hard-balling”.

Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Muir said “the time to set a budget is now” and that “time is not on our side”.

“This needs to be sorted in the days ahead, and it’s critical that we come together and we focus on getting a budget set and doing delivery,” he said.

“I’ve been a bit fed up with the politics of the last few weeks, which are focused on division and distraction.

“We need to get on to delivery and hope for the people of Northern Ireland.

“We’ll continue to argue the point for a fair funding package for Northern Ireland and ensure that our public services are properly funded and also the people are properly paid.

“That’s what we’re engaging with the UK government around this, and it’s important to get this over the line very soon.”

With Chancellor John Healey set to announce the UK budget at Westminster on Wednesday, Mr Muir said it is “really critical that Northern Ireland is fairly funded”.

“Not just to ensure that people are properly paid, but also that we’re investing public services in Northern Ireland,” he said.

“So we wait to see the budget tomorrow and see what that arises for Northern Ireland.

“It’s critical that we get a budget in place for Northern Ireland, we get those pay awards delivered to public servants across Northern Ireland, and we give certainty in the time ahead.”