No resolution has been reached yet in negotiations between executive parties and the secretary of state, First Minister Michelle O'Neill has said. Speaking after a series of one-to-one meetings with Sir Chris Bryant, O'Neill said there was still "no white smoke". She said that while there may be things dividing the executive, her party would persist in trying to get a budget deal done that allows public sector pay awards to be made for this year.
The secretary of state is understood to have presented a set of conditions, including revenue raising, to be attached to any potential deal on a Stormont budget. O'Neill was joined by Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald, Finance Minister John O'Dowd and Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald. Asked about the prospect of conditions being attached to a budget including asking the executive to commit to a further £200m in revenue raising over the next two years, McDonald said taxpayers already pay for public services.
"If you listened to the secretary of state you'd never know people paid their way here... I'd remind the government even within the current arrangement of power-sharing fiscal powers are extremely limited." O'Neill said she was getting "impatient" with the government and that she would take no lectures from it about managing finances. Seven months into this financial year the Northern Ireland Executive has still not agreed a budget.
Stormont ministers argue the UK's devolution funding formula no longer delivers enough for them to balance their books. The government had offered them an additional £525m this year, but they said it still left significant gaps in managing their spending pressures, particularly delivery of pay awards for public sector workers. It is not clear what the shape of a final budget agreement could look like, with some parties insisting there is still scope to "reprofile" some of the financial package.
Bryant's conditions are believed to include the executive committing to £200m in additional revenue raising in 2027/28 and 2028/29. He has also asked that they should improve "discipline" around promises and delivery of pay parity to public sector workers in Northern Ireland. Speaking before the meetings, Burrows said the UUP wanted to strike a budget but would be telling the secretary of state Northern Ireland needs better governance.
His UUP colleague Robbie Butler said he believed negotiations were at a "pinch point". As health minister, he said that his focus was on ensuring health workers get their long-awaited pay rises. The DUP contingent included its executive ministers as well as party leader Gavin Robinson and deputy leader Michelle McIlveen.
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