Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant says his £1.5bn Stormont offer is final, giving executive parties until noon next Thursday to submit a three-year budget plan. He says no more money is available and may consider a Westminster budget if talks fail.
The offer was increased from an initial £1.1bn earlier this month. It includes £450m for day-to-day pressures this year, plus £400m in each of 2027/28 and 2028/29. The executive is about six months past when it should have set a budget for this financial year.
Finance Minister John O'Dowd said Stormont departments' published financial pressures are around £1.6bn. The NI Fiscal Council found Scotland and Wales are funded above assessed need, while Northern Ireland is at or slightly below its assessed need. DUP MLA Diane Dodds called the offer “reckless” and “unrealistic”; UUP MLA Steve Aiken said calling it final did not make it fair or sufficient. Bryant said the Executive would need to consider raising additional revenue, but that he had not specifically raised water charges.
