Budget decisions ‘don’t reflect reality’ in Northern Ireland, minister says

Budgetary decisions taken in London do not necessarily reflect the realities of life in Northern Ireland, Stormont’s finance minister has warned.

The Chancellor was urged to encourage economic growth in Northern Ireland and transform public services in the region when she met Stormont ministers on Tuesday.

Northern Ireland deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly and finance minister John O’Dowd said the Executive will continue to engage with Rachel Reeves ahead of upcoming budgetary decisions.

Ms Little-Pengelly said Tuesday’s “in-depth engagement” was an opportunity to “urge the Chancellor” to take decisions to encourage economic growth in the region.

She said: “It’s good to have the Chancellor here to take the opportunity in advance of the budget event in the autumn, to ensure that Northern Ireland’s particular issues and characteristics are heard by the Chancellor – and hopefully taken into account.

“We believe that Northern Ireland has huge economic potential, but we do need that investment and growth.”

She added: “But we also wanted to raise with the Chancellor that some of her decisions could have a disproportionate impact on our businesses, on our farmers, on our economy of Northern Ireland.”

She said she raised a wide range of issues affecting Northern Ireland, including the national insurance employers’ contribution affecting the region’s small-to-medium sized businesses and the impact of inheritance tax changes on family farms.

“It was an opportunity to highlight those challenges, but also to talk about the immense opportunity Northern Ireland has if we are given the right tools to enable us to unlock that.”

Finance minister John O’Dowd said there was “no secret” that there was a “significant hole in the British Government’s budget”.

“However, that’s down to political decisions that have to be made in Westminster and elsewhere. Our job is to look after our people here and defend our public services, our industries, farming and others.

“And we made a very strong case to her that decisions made in London which may reflect realities in that region, don’t necessarily reflect the realities here.”

Mr O’Dowd said he told the Chancellor that Northern Ireland’s public finances “remain constrained”.

He told reporters: “There needs to be, as a result of the budget in the autumn, investment in our public services to allow us to deliver the transformation that is required, to allow us to deliver investment in the workforce who deliver our public services and to make them sustainable moving forward.”