Debate contribution: Further Education: Arts Sector
Debate contribution by Dr Caoimhe Archibald on .
- MLA
- Dr Caoimhe Archibald
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 5 October 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Further Education: Arts Sector
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5774341
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Member for her question. We would all like to have been able to agree a three-year Budget. It would have put us in a much stronger position from a strategic perspective for planning how we deliver across all our objectives, particularly our Programme for Government and Executive commitments. Unfortunately, when we drilled into the detail of what that would mean, it became apparent to me that the challenges that my Department faced, particularly across further and higher education, could not be met by what was on the table. That is the position that the Executive collectively came to. It is right that we continue to argue for a proper Budget settlement. We have made progress. The British Government have acknowledged that we require additional funding. They have put additional funding on the table, but it has not gone far enough yet. It is important that we speak with one voice in continuing to make the case for a proper and fair Budget settlement, not just as an Executive but collectively as an Assembly.
176 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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