It's not even the start of a new Stormont term and already there have been leaks. Albeit it wasn't some big scoop but a rather damp surprise for the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) MLA Colin McGrath, who took to social media saying a water leak over summer had left his assembly office looking worse for wear, external. Even the most casual observers of politics here could guess, however, that Stormont's leaky roof problems are outweighed by the ever-slow drip of political activity inside the building - a place the assembly's freshest face will witness for himself from this week.
On Tuesday, Paul Boggs was named Sinn Féin's new West Tyrone MLA after Maoliosa McHugh - who'd already said he wouldn't run in the next election - decided to call it quits. Boggs brings the number of MLAs who have been co-opted since the last assembly election to 14 and that figure could go up still before the upcoming election next May. Co-options aside (that's a whole other piece), the backdrop of said looming election means parties are likely to be in fighting form when Stormont sittings resume on Monday.
No time for new minister to fix health service warns top doctor 'Sinn Féin will not walk away from Stormont', says Michelle O'Neill Maolíosa McHugh stepping down as West Tyrone MLA The newly-appointed Health Minister Robbie Butler will be one of those quick to feel pressure, as the 10-year anniversary of the Bengoa report - a major health reform review - approaches next month. Pay pressures in his department and the Department of Education also make for another winter of discontent, with the prospect of strike action yet to be ruled out. We know by now that Butler and other ministers argue that their hands are tied without a budget that can allow them to meet all their outstanding pressures.
Executive parties have been taking part in talks with Treasury officials in a bid to break the deadlock but 36 days since the legal deadline to pass a budget expired, there has so far been little sign of light at the end of this tunnel. So much so that it prompted SDLP leader of the opposition Matthew O'Toole to issue a call to public bodies across Northern Ireland this week, asking them how the ongoing lack of financial certainty is affecting their services. Whether point scoring or simply making a wider point about the consequences of not having a budget, others are also talking about the problems being stored up at Stormont.
Think tank Pivotal published a report, external last week on the issue, noting that several departments are facing massive overspends this year, including deficits of about £800m in health and £250m in education. Money matters are a major sticking point for this executive but whether this can be resolved rests on what comes out of talks with Treasury and the secretary of state - more of those are expected to happen with the parties this week. The budget, as big as it is, is only one item on the executive's to-do list before the assembly dissolves in March ahead of the election.
Already ministers have been repeatedly warned by assembly Speaker Edwin Poots that time is running out to pass remaining pieces of legislation through all their hurdles. It's not uncommon for Stormont to sit into the small hours or hold extra days of sittings as the end of a mandate approaches - this one will be no different but there are serious question marks over some key bills. Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald's so-called "Good Jobs" Bill which aims to massively reform employment laws has yet to get executive agreement, after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said it had no support among business groups.
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