Stormont ministers are finding out their budget summary as John Healey delivers the Westminster Budget. The money on offer is £525m, but Northern Ireland parties say they need about £1.5bn for a workable financial plan.
That gap lands while the Stormont budget is still not agreed seven months into the financial year. More money could still help move talks on, but the figures now on the table do not match the scale of the gap John O'Dowd and other parties say they are facing.
John O'Dowd presses Westminster
On Wednesday, John O'Dowd said there was a duty on the government to fairly fund Northern Ireland. He said he wanted a “fair and sustainable settlement” and that “the money currently on the table is not sufficient for us to be able to move forward, pay our public sector workers and sustain public services and grow our economy.”
He added: “I await the chancellor's announcements and I hope he does now meet the needs of this society.” The budget process now decides how far that gap can be narrowed, not whether it disappears altogether.
Gavin Robinson on the gap
Gavin Robinson said last week it would not be realistic to think the gap would be entirely closed by the chancellor. He said it could still be “more manageable”, which is the level of movement Stormont ministers are now waiting to see from Westminster.
The contrast is stark: the government has offered £525m, while the parties say they need about £1.5bn. That leaves the size of the settlement, not the principle of extra money, as the issue that will shape the next round of budget talks.
Christina Taylor counts the cost
Christina Taylor, who owns Shed Bistro in south Belfast, said she employs about 30 staff and any rise in the minimum wage would feed straight through to prices. She said: “That raise last year meant that every guest would need to spend £4.50 more to cover that.”
She also said: “Raising the minimum wage isn't the answer to the cost of living because it goes in a circle and no one is better off.” For businesses like hers, the budget debate reaches beyond Stormont and into the price of a meal out, where she said customers are already going less often except for special occasions.
