‘Increasingly difficult' for Stormont to mitigate decisions made at Westminster
It is becoming 'increasingly difficult' for the Stormont Executive to mitigate decisions being made at Westminster, Northern Ireland's Finance Minister has said.
John O'Dowd said decisions, such as the recent hike in employers National Insurance contributions, are having a 'significant impact' in the region.
Appearing before the Assembly Finance Committee, he said the Ulster University's Cost of Doing Business Review this week gave a 'timely insight' into the challenges faced by businesses in Northern Ireland and said he has forwarded a copy to the Chief Secretary of the Treasury.
Stormont Finance Minister John O'Dowd appears before the Assembly Finance Committee on Wednesday afternoon (NI Assembly/PA)
'Decisions that are being made in Westminster are having significant impacts here and I am confident that when these decisions are being made in Whitehall departments, they're not taking into account the needs of the local businesses and communities here,' he told MLAs.
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'It is becoming increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for the Executive to mitigate against the decisions that are being made at Westminster.'
Previously the Executive has intervened on some decisions, including mitigating cuts to some benefits.
But Mr O'Dowd said 'decades of underfunding and new decisions that are being made are putting more and more pressure on Executive budgets', and suggested further Executive financial assistance may not be plausible.
Mr O'Dowd earlier reiterated to MLAs that it is essential that the Executive is 'funded fairly and sustainably' to deliver public services.
He hailed an independent assessment of need in Northern Ireland being undertaken by Professor Gerald Holtham, and said he hopes to have a final draft of that report next week.
'This work is close to being finalised in the coming days and I will of course share with the committee at the appropriate juncture,' he said.
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'I have already engaged with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in respect of this and will be immediately engaging further on receipt of the report.'
He also said that work has started on multi-year budgets for Northern Ireland, which he said have the 'potential to be a game changer and enable departments to plan on a longer-term strategic basis'.
But he warned the benefits 'will only be realised if the Westminster Government use the Spending Review as an as opportunity to invest in public services'.
'I have made this clear in my meetings with the British Government,' he added.
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