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10/10/2014
Treasury Loans Executive £100m
The Northern Ireland Executive has agreed to take up a £100m loan from the Treasury following a letter from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to that effect.
The First and deputy First Minister welcomed the Executive’s agreement on the October Monitoring paper tabled at yesterday's meeting at Stormont.
Tabled by Finance Minister Simon Hamilton, it confirms the proposed level of reductions which Departments were asked to plan for in the June Monitoring Executive paper.
The announcement comes as Ministers face pressure to deal with a £200m shortfall in the budget, £87m of which is a result of a failure to implement welfare reform while another £135m is from increasing financial pressures.
Agreement has also been reached on the reallocation of funding across Departments.
But Environment Minister Mark H Durkan described the application for the loan as "ridiculous and irresponsible".
"The DUP, in an attempt to cover up the failures of DFP to manage the Budget sought and received a loan from the Treasury of up to £100m to attempt to patch up our escalating budget crisis," he said.
"When the Treasury are demanding payment of fines of £87m in 2014/2015 and £114m in 2015/2016 saddling the people of Northern Ireland with more debt of up to £100m is ridiculous and irresponsible.
"The reality is that nowhere near enough to challenge the fines imposed by the Treasury because Tory welfare cuts on the most vulnerable in our communities have not yet been implemented.
"Sinn Féin may say that they will resist Tory cuts but then they go ahead and accept Tory debts. The DUP and Sinn Féin have attempted to put a gloss on the loan by saying that allocations will go to health and justice. The reality is that because of their failures the fines and the loan will still need to be paid and those cuts found elsewhere from the within Executive budget to pay for them."
(IT/CD)
The First and deputy First Minister welcomed the Executive’s agreement on the October Monitoring paper tabled at yesterday's meeting at Stormont.
Tabled by Finance Minister Simon Hamilton, it confirms the proposed level of reductions which Departments were asked to plan for in the June Monitoring Executive paper.
The announcement comes as Ministers face pressure to deal with a £200m shortfall in the budget, £87m of which is a result of a failure to implement welfare reform while another £135m is from increasing financial pressures.
Agreement has also been reached on the reallocation of funding across Departments.
But Environment Minister Mark H Durkan described the application for the loan as "ridiculous and irresponsible".
"The DUP, in an attempt to cover up the failures of DFP to manage the Budget sought and received a loan from the Treasury of up to £100m to attempt to patch up our escalating budget crisis," he said.
"When the Treasury are demanding payment of fines of £87m in 2014/2015 and £114m in 2015/2016 saddling the people of Northern Ireland with more debt of up to £100m is ridiculous and irresponsible.
"The reality is that nowhere near enough to challenge the fines imposed by the Treasury because Tory welfare cuts on the most vulnerable in our communities have not yet been implemented.
"Sinn Féin may say that they will resist Tory cuts but then they go ahead and accept Tory debts. The DUP and Sinn Féin have attempted to put a gloss on the loan by saying that allocations will go to health and justice. The reality is that because of their failures the fines and the loan will still need to be paid and those cuts found elsewhere from the within Executive budget to pay for them."
(IT/CD)
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