Government ‘willing to help Northern Ireland return to stable financial footing’

The Government has insisted it is willing to help Northern Ireland return to a stable financial footing.

The pledge from Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton Harris came ahead of talks with the region’s five main parties about Stormont’s economic woes.

Speculation has been growing in recent weeks that the DUP may be closing in on an agreement on post-Brexit trade that could restore the Executive and Assembly at Stormont, with Mr Heaton-Harris recently saying negotiations are in their “final, final phase”.

But if devolution does return, politicians will be facing a perilous financial situation.

The talks at Hillsborough Castle on Monday are focused on those economic issues.

Stormont is on track for an overspend this year of £450 million, a figure that rises to nearly £1 billion if accounting for a pay rise for Northern Ireland public sector workers to match that of the other regions of the UK.

The problems have been exacerbated by the need to repay a money to the Treasury that was made available to plug a black hole in last year’s budget.

Local parties have also been calling for reform of the financial model used to allocate Treasury funds to the region on an annual basis.

They have also been looking for more say in spending money currently directly allocated to projects by the UK Government.

Public sector workers staged a noisy protest outside Hillsborough Castle before Monday’s talks.

Devolved government has not been functioning in Northern Ireland for nearly two years because of the DUP’s ongoing boycott of the institutions in protest at post-Brexit trade agreements.

The DUP has been in negotiations with the Government to secure legislative assurances over Northern Ireland’s economic position in the UK.

Speaking to the media before the meeting, Mr Heaton Harris said progress was being made in negotiations with the DUP on the Windsor Framework but he would not be giving a “running commentary”.

He said that as part of his focus to “deliver for” people in Northern Ireland, the UK Government has worked to address the DUP’s concerns on the framework, a set of trading arrangements for the region post-Brexit.

“I continue to engage with the DUP and, as I’ve said before, these discussions are making progress, but I’m not going to provide a running commentary,” he said outside Hillsborough Castle on Monday.

“Alongside those negotiations, I’m now convening the Northern Ireland party leaders here today at Hillsborough Castle to talk about ensuring financial stability and sustainability for Northern Ireland.

“I want to agree the basis upon which the Northern Ireland Executive can return on a stable financial footing.

“I also want to ensure that public services are able to meet the needs of the people of Northern Ireland.

“The UK Government is willing to help but all of these issues can be best addressed by the return of locally accountable institutions built on secure foundations.

“I hope our work together over the next few days will do exactly that.”