Debate contribution: Executive Budget
Debate contribution by Ms Michelle O'Neill on .
- MLA
- Ms Michelle O'Neill
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 19 October 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Executive Budget
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5795600
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Someone said "Good luck on Thursday": thank you very much to whomever said that. There has been extensive engagement over recent months, including with the Secretary of State, most recently on 16 October. There have also been meetings with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. We have been clear that, although we welcome the additional funding outlined, the proposed funding package remains insufficient to place our public finances on a sustainable footing. The proposed offer falls significantly short of what is required to deliver fair pay awards, protect front-line services and provide a sustainable foundation for our public services and communities. We will continue to make the case to the British Government for a fair and adequate funding settlement and continue to be fully open and transparent with the Secretary of State and his officials about the efficiencies and savings that we have already made and about our plans for further reform and transformation of services to ensure better delivery for people and communities here. Securing the resources needed to invest in public services is essential not only to protecting vital services but to supporting economic growth and improving outcomes for all. We remain committed to working constructively to secure a funding envelope that enables us to meet all those challenges and to deliver for citizens.
216 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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