Debate contribution: Executive Budget

Debate contribution by Ms Diane Forsythe on 14 September 2026.

MLA

Ms Diane Forsythe

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

14 September 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Executive Budget

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5685413

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The Budget is such an important issue. Matthew O'Toole is the Chair of the Finance Committee, and we all work very well at Committee together. He very much knows the detail of what is going on, but, obviously, in the Chamber, he has a role to play, and he is in character, making angry attacks upon others. That is shining through once again.

Earlier today in the Chamber, he mentioned the Streisand effect, which is when attempting to hide or cover up things sometimes backfires. Perhaps we can see the SDLP's response to elements of the Budget in the same frame, because the notion of criticising everything but offering nothing serves nobody.

Earlier this year, when John O'Dowd brought forward the draft Budget, which Sinn Féin supported at the time, the DUP held firm. We were out quickly. The Education Minister very quickly set out what it would mean. The Budget was inadequate for special educational needs; it could lead to the redundancies of 6,700 teachers and some 3,100 non-teaching staff; it did not prioritise social housing; and it had no money for the anti-poverty strategy. For the Department of Justice, by the end of the multi-year period, it would equate to the combined annual budgets of the Prison Service, the Probation Board, the Youth Justice Agency and Forensic Science Northern Ireland being cut. It was a Budget that we could not support, and we held firm. As we moved forward, the Executive agreed collectively that they could not operate within it. It was the right thing to do to push back on the issue of funding, because we need to secure the right package for Northern Ireland. It needs to be a right, fair, equitable and sustainable long-term funding settlement that enables us to deliver public services while working to transform them rather than one of the repeated cash-cow sticking plasters that are used to cover up the shortfall. Much has been said about the fact that Wales and Scotland are funded well beyond their need while Northern Ireland is funded to its need. An important point is often missed, however. When it is reported that Northern Ireland is funded to its level of need, that includes the retrospective cash-cow sticking plasters. Northern Ireland is not funded to its need in a way that means that we know what is coming over the next three to four years to enable us to plan and spend on public services. We need a proper, sensible solution. Ultimately, that is what we hope to get. Matthew O'Toole talked about the responses from the different groups that have fed back to him. Well, many of the rest of us got those responses from groups earlier in the year. When the draft Budget came out, we got them immediately from people whom we engaged with. Mr O'Toole talked about adult art classes and people in the voluntary and community sector. Yes, they cannot move forward because the Budget is not in place, but, if the Budget had been imposed with £1·5 billion of cuts, all those things would certainly have been cut long before now. Those decisions would have been made immediately. The arm's-length bodies, the community and voluntary sector and some of the most vulnerable in society would have been hit hard and would have continued to be hit by the Budget. It is the right thing to do to get a Budget that works for people. As I said, the Opposition criticise that position and criticise where we are but offer nothing. I have not seen a shadow proposal for a draft Budget come through from the Opposition. Perhaps I missed it. I would love to know what their proposal would be for a Budget under the current terms. During the talks in December 2023, the DUP leader, Gavin Robinson, highlighted the fact that there would be a cliff edge. We approached the cliff edge, and in October 2025 he was out again. Talks took place this year, and they are ongoing. We have recognised the need for long-term, sustainable and fair funding for Northern Ireland, and we will continue to push for that. We will support Sinn Féin's amendment today. We need to have a Budget in place in Northern Ireland. I know that, and I agree with the Opposition's sentiment, but it must be a Budget that our public services can be delivered within, is not catastrophic for the people of Northern Ireland and does not decimate our public services and drive people out of work. People in Northern Ireland are struggling. The DUP has held firm on its position on this and will continue to do so.

778 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

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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