All of Dr Caoimhe Archibald’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
The response to the question for written answer that the Member will have received will reflect the official correspondence that we received from Treasury about the financial package and any moneys that had been unring-fenced. That is the date in my response to which the Member is referring. I cannot answer for the…
The financial package that accompanied the Executive's restoration was clear that, from 2024-25, any uplift to the Executive's DEL budget through the Barnett formula would attract a 24% needs-based factor. Therefore, it has to be applied to the consequential received in the spring Budget. As I said, I sought and have…
The spring Budget announced by the Chancellor on 6 March 2024 provided £99·4 million of additional resource DEL Barnett consequentials for the Executive in 2024-25. That is based on the current Barnett formula, which will need to be updated to reflect the new 124% as part of the restoration package. I have sought and…
As part of the Budget process for 2024-25, I have written to my Executive colleagues setting out the approach to our equality considerations. Going forward, I plan to engage fully with the Equality Commission on how we can improve equality considerations as part of that wider process. As I said, I want to fully…
I am committed to ensuring that my Department follows best practice in relation to its section 75 duties, not only in considering the equality impacts of its own spending decisions but also in respect of the wider Budget process. The gender impact of Budget proposals should be captured as part of the equality impact…
At every stage of the process, my officials worked at pace to complete the review of the information and reach a judgement on whether it was sufficient to enable expenditure approval. Unfortunately, the review identified at several stages that the information provided to my Department contained significant errors and…
I have been involved in bilateral meetings with all of my Executive colleagues as part of the budgetary process, and we have discussed the various challenges that face each of the Departments and their Ministers. It would not be appropriate for me to go into the individual bids at this point, because there is a…
I assume that that will be a matter for the Education Minister. My Department has approved the business case and the expenditure for the implementation of the pay and grading review. It will obviously be for the Education Minister to take that forward and to ensure that the implementation of the proposed measures is…
I recognise the vital role of non-teaching staff and the crucial contribution that they make to the education of our children and young people. My Department provided expenditure approval for the implementation of the non-teaching staff pay and grading review on 3 April 2024. It is now for the Department of Education…
We are working through the Budget process, at the minute, so there is a good bit on the Department's plate, but it is something that I want to bring to the Executive in the near future. As part of the negotiations that we will have with Treasury about a future fiscal framework, it is important that we have an agreed…
The Secretary of State put forward a number of measures for consultation while the Executive were down. Departments will be in receipt of the responses to those in the next short while, and, certainly, I will consider the outworking of the consultation in respect of rates. As part of the consultation on the general…
The Executive recognise the need for fiscal sustainability and, as part of a new fiscal framework, will want to look at all options to deliver efficiencies, generate revenue, enhance borrowing powers and examine fiscal devolution. The main revenue-raising measure that falls within my Department’s remit is the regional…
Obviously, there are legal issues in respect of the delivery of contracts. The position would be in respect of new contracts. I will write to the Member, outlining details on the specifics of the regulations on public procurement and contracts.
My understanding of the current situation in relation to Fujitsu is that there will not be contracts with new customers. Where it already has contracts with an organisation or is involved in a bidding process, that will continue. As I said, there are no grounds, at this stage, to exclude it from that process.
In April 2023, the Audit Office published a report on its review of public procurement structures here. The report recognised the importance of public procurement as an enabling function for Departments to deliver essential public services and highlighted the need to ensure that procurement functions effectively in…
A supplier may be excluded from tendering for government contracts only if it has committed an offence under the legislation listed in the Public Contracts Regulations. That legislation relates to offences committed mainly in regard to theft, bribery, fraud, organised crime, professional misconduct, labour market…
We are all appalled by the Horizon scandal and the impact that it has had on those who have been directly affected and their families. As I said in my original answer, the awarding of public contracts is bound in legislation as it stands and there are no grounds under the Public Contracts Regulations. Obviously, a…
As the Member will be aware from briefings at the Finance Committee, there are strict rules regarding the award of public contracts. There are currently no grounds under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 that would exclude Fujitsu from tendering for public contracts.
Since the option for births, marriages and deaths to be registered with a choice of Irish, bilingual or English certificate headings was introduced on 11 March 2022, there have been 4,934 bilingual and 92 Irish birth registrations; 1,164 bilingual and 25 Irish death registrations; and 1,382 bilingual and 17 Irish…
The Department of Finance does not hold legislative authority for wills. I am engaging with my Executive colleagues to ensure that the New Decade, New Approach commitment is appropriately led and taken forward, and I have written to the Justice Minister to ask the Department of Justice, working with its agencies, such…
The Department continues to work on the roll-out of registrations in Irish. I recently met Conradh na Gaeilge to discuss our commitments in respect of the Irish language. Work is ongoing on how we can meet the commitments that we have made and on looking at some of the other issues.
Work on the commitment in the 'New Decade, New Approach' document focused on how future registrations might be made in Irish. Providing retrospective certificates in Irish would require careful legal and technical consideration and appropriate resources. The Department will consider how best to address those questions…
We made that case at the time. The Member will be aware that we did better in the drawdown of EU funds compared with, for example, the Barnett consequential that we get. I am not entirely sure what percentage we get, but I will ask officials to write to the Member about that.
The Member will be aware that the Shared Prosperity Fund, as a replacement for EU funding, fell far short of what was delivered by EU funding through ESF and ERDF. The Shared Prosperity Fund in totality was £127 million over three years. The equivalent EU structural funds averaged £65 million per annum, so there is,…
Yes is the short answer. The previous Finance Minister and the Executive argued that the replacement for EU funds should be delivered by local Departments and not from Whitehall. That would have enabled us to ensure that the funding was aligned with our priorities. Unfortunately, the British Government did not agree…