Debate contribution: Executive Budget

Debate contribution by Mr Matthew O'Toole on 14 September 2026.

MLA

Mr Matthew O'Toole

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

14 September 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Executive Budget

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5685339

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Welcome back after the summer to all those who are elected to represent the public in Northern Ireland. Whether they are unionist, nationalist or neither, whether they are working in the public sector or the private sector or whether they are young or old, whatever their status, all people here rely on public services, and all of them have a fundamental right to expect that their devolved Government — the people who are elected to office and who accept the office, the salary, the ministerial car and the Civil Service support that go along with it — are willing to do the most basic thing expected of any Government: set a Budget. However, thus far, the Executive have completely failed to do so. In fact, they have refused to do so. We will come on to discussions about the quantum of the Executive's Budget and the financial settlement, because, as I will say repeatedly, and as, I know, other Members will raise repeatedly, the Executive have a legitimate argument in seeking the maximum possible funding, but we have to start from this premise: it is a profound failure of our politics to refuse to set a Budget; it is not a negotiating strategy, a tactic or a consequence of a little political difficulty. It is a profound failure by the two big parties in particular, who have run this region for 20 years and who, based on the evidence of today and, I am sure, the increasing evidence of the weeks and months to come, cannot or will not govern together. In fact, they have a structural political incentive to refuse to get along with one another. All the while, our public services slowly suffer. My colleague Mr McCrossan just mentioned the gravity of the situation at Altnagelvin Hospital's accident and emergency department, and that situation will be replicated across the hospital estate in the North. We are, as we all know, 10 years on from the Bengoa report, which was supposed to herald significant reform and improved services for people. We also have multiple other big structural challenges in the immediate and long term in our public services, but there is literally no way to address those problems without setting a Budget. Just the week before last, the SDLP Opposition asked public servants, those who deliver public services and members of the general public who use the public services to get in touch and explain the impact of there being no Budget on their day-to-day work and lives. The responses were wide and broad because they are not just the big things that relate to the health service. We all know the crisis that is being created; we all know the challenge around public-sector pay and wages if a Budget is not set. Someone who works in environmental governance got in touch with me to say that a key project is not proceeding because there is no Budget. A student teacher got in touch with me to say that their bursary for STEM teaching cannot proceed. A retired person got in touch with me to say that the adult art class that they had enjoyed for some time at the local tech is being discontinued because there is no Budget. It will be said that it is because the British Government have not funded this place, but here is the problem with that argument: I agree, the British Government have questions to answer about the funding of this place. The next question is this: is refusing to set a Budget six months into the financial year a legitimate or appropriate way to secure better funding? I do not think that it is. I will preempt all those who will stand up and say, "The SDLP wants us to accept a terrible Budget. The SDLP this, and the SDLP that". I can already see Mr Kingston nodding in agreement. That is fine. I have already made the point for you, lads. I know that you are going to say that because you have said it multiple times before, but here is the thing: you have had two and a half years to agree a multi-year Budget. You could and should have agreed on a set of key priorities for the public in the North, Decisions should have been made about reforming the health service, decisions about investment in our waste water infrastructure so that we can build social homes, and decisions about our schools estate. Some of those will be difficult decisions, but they require political leadership. They require the people who accept office to say, "The situation is not ideal. We want more money from the British Government. We think that there is a structural funding problem" — the Opposition have never disputed that, by the way — "These are the choices that we — Sinn Féin, the DUP, the Alliance Party and the Ulster Unionists — want to make collectively as the Executive. We challenge the official Opposition to support us in making an argument for investment and structural change in our public services, and this is how we want it to be funded". The Executive did not do that. That has not happened. The Executive have drifted six months into the financial year and pushed all the responsibility for cuts on to the public services and ordinary public servants. The people who run our hospitals, schools, community groups and the community and voluntary sector are being forced to make the cuts because politicians, who accept power and wages, will not take responsibility. We have never said that the UK Government fund this place properly, and I have never used any of the offensive or stupid language about the "begging bowl". I have never said that, and I would never say that. I understand how cynical and disinterested the UK Government are; I understand it well. Not only am I the Chair of the Finance Committee, but I was a UK Government civil servant. I know that this place does not really matter over there. Here is the thing: that reality underlines the importance of taking responsibility here and not letting them off the hook because irresponsibility here breeds cynicism there. The UK Government can simply say, "Look, those guys are just fighting as usual. They are not about the public and delivering public services in Northern Ireland; they are just fighting." That kind of cynicism from London is pernicious. However, when the Executive refuse to agree a plan; it makes it worse. It also makes it worse when a draft Budget is published without agreement, and the Finance Minister tells us that it will be transformative although there is no agreement from his Executive colleagues. They immediately fall out with one another, rather than saying, "Let's come together and make a plan to take to the United Kingdom Government that shows the investment that we want to make to improve health, waste water and the key priorities for the public of Northern Ireland". That has not happened either. We have been blamed for holding the Executive to account for failing to set a Budget.

We have also held the UK Government to account for their lack of seriousness in this. An exercise was done some months ago called the "open-book exercise". I was clear that that was not a good idea, and I said in the Chamber that it was an exercise in Treasury cynicism. The Finance Minister agreed to it. He said that it would be an opportunity for the UK Government to see the pressures. I was fairly certain that it would be a high-level, cynical attempt to simply throw things back in the faces of the local Executive, and so it proved. I genuinely do not think that these decisions are easy, but simply refusing to take responsibility makes them worse. The Fiscal Council has made it clear that there are differences in how Northern Ireland is funded versus Scotland and Wales. I want to be clear: the Finance Minister has a case, and I assume that the First Minister will make those arguments in meetings with her counterparts in Scotland and Wales today — whatever the status of those meetings, before the DUP gets too excited about that. For the record, I accept and agree with that, as I have done on every occasion when I have had the opportunity. However, I do not accept that a correct way to deal with it and to get a better financial settlement for this place is to simply refuse all responsibility. We have a problem here with Executive Ministers who want to take office but refuse responsibility. They want power but no accountability. That cannot go on. It is one of the reasons why trust in politics here is so low. I want ordinary people to feel that, whether they like this place or not — few people do, I am afraid — and whether they are unionists and want to stay in the UK or, like me, believe in a new Ireland, people here are doing their best for them in difficult circumstances and making decisions to improve their lives. I cannot, hand on heart, say that people believe that right now. That is not me being opportunistic and oppositional for the sake of it; that is the official Opposition holding the Executive to account for not doing their job properly and holding the UK Government to account for their cynicism about it. The UK Government need to get real in their engagement with the Executive. I encourage them to produce the best possible financial settlement, and I commend the fact that some slow, belated progress has been made. It is not unreasonable for me to ask why it could not have been done six months ago or last year; it should have been. If the Executive, particularly Sinn Féin and the DUP, were more focused on the public good rather than constantly poking each other in the eye for their own electoral advantage, there might have been a joined-up plan. Drumcree and all sorts of other nonsense that comes up is all distraction from the real issue, which is public services and doing right by the people who send us here. We will keep pressing the Executive to do their job and agree a Budget. We want the best possible financial settlement, and we encourage the Executive in those discussions, but we really should not have got into this situation. It is a failure for the people of Northern Ireland. I commend the motion to the House.

1,773 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 16:15 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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