Debate contribution: Budget Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Miss Jemma Dolan on 18 February 2025.

MLA: Miss Jemma Dolan
Party at the time: Sinn Féin
Date: 18 February 2025
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Executive Committee Business
Heading: Budget Bill: Second Stage
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 4806236

Text

I thank the Minister for bringing the Budget Bill to the Assembly, and I take this opportunity to wish him well in his new role. I also recognise the work of the previous Finance Minister, Dr Caoimhe Archibald, particularly on securing the interim fiscal framework, which marks a significant improvement in our funding model. That secured an extra £248 million for our public services for the forthcoming year that would otherwise not have been available. It was a recognition from the British Government that the North has been funded below need and a commitment that we will be funded at or above the relative level of need in future financial years. Unfortunately, a decade and a half of Tory austerity has starved our public services of vital funding, and we continue to face considerable challenges. It is welcome, therefore, that the Budget has prioritised investing in areas that will be most effective in improving the lives of workers, families and communities here. We are all well aware of the strain that the health and social care sector is under and of the need for transformation. However, there is recognition in the Budget that additional funding is required to support services in the interim. Doubling the allocation for childcare is another significant step in helping to mitigate financial pressure on parents, and it will support them to remain part of the workforce or return to work. The decision by the British Government to remove ring-fencing for agriculture support funds was extremely disappointing and caused concern to the farming community at a time when it is facing other issues, such as the inheritance tax. I am pleased that funding for DAERA is an earmarked allocation. In my constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone, the investment from the Mid South West growth deal will be a key driver in addressing regional economic imbalance and will see the delivery of a vital piece of infrastructure, the A4 Enniskillen bypass. There remains an onus on the British Treasury to alleviate the additional pressure that its decision to increase National Insurance contributions is putting on our public finances, and I reiterate the call for it to cover those costs in full. There is an obvious need for more fiscal devolution, which would provide us with greater flexibility around Budgets and enable us to achieve greater fiscal sustainability in the longer term. I welcome the efforts of previous Finance Ministers in that area and the commitment from the new Minister to continue that work.

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

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