Debate contribution: Budget 2025-26

Debate contribution by Mr Daniel McCrossan on 19 May 2025.

MLA

Mr Daniel McCrossan

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

19 May 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Budget 2025-26

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4968740

Read the official Assembly record

Text

At a time when our communities face immense social and economic hardship, the Budget represents a deeply worrying failure, but that is not surprising. The Executive have an appalling record over the years. They have failed our people time and time again. Let us look at the Executive's appalling record and legacy. On their watch, we have the worst health outcomes and longest waiting lists in western Europe and a crumbling school estate and roads. Our mental health service is failing vulnerable people day and daily, and, even though we have identified how to fix it, nothing has changed. Nothing is moving or improving. Housing lists are spiralling out of control, with vulnerable people being left to live in hotels and accommodation that is not fit for purpose. Again, we are well aware of the challenges and problems faced by our society, but where are the Executive? They are doing nothing. Their eyes are closed, and their hands are over their ears.

I will.

Absolutely. When it comes to benefits, yes, the British Government, be they Labour or Tory, have failed vulnerable people. Again, we see that playing through with the changes to PIP and, ultimately, the impact of that. We have to remember that it was a previous Executive, in which there was the same parties, who wrapped the welfare reform legislation up in a big red bow and passed the powers back to Westminster to create legislation that affects people's lives here. That power was handed back. People complain about that now, but they gave the British Government the authority to make those changes to the lives of people in our society and communities, and that is having a direct impact. Our elderly people have also been very badly treated by the Executive. Health outcomes have deteriorated vastly over the past number of years. People have been left to go into care homes because they cannot get the support in their own home, which is a far cry from what previous Health Ministers offered in their role in the Executive.

Moreover, young people in Northern Ireland are being failed day and daily. This week, we have heard about the challenges facing further education and universities. We are sympathetic to the universities, but the first reaction from the Executive, particularly from Sinn Féin Ministers, has been, "Let's increase tuition fees". The impact of that has been understated, to be honest, because, put quite simply, when students graduate from university, they are at a point in their life at which they are looking to settle down, start a family and try to get on to the property ladder, yet they are being hindered from doing so as a result of having huge amounts of student debt. That has a direct impact on their ability to pay a mortgage.

I will not. I have a lot to get through. In the South, Sinn Féin is calling for tuition fees to be scrapped. In the North, however, the same party is saying, "Let's increase them". By implication, that means that, if Sinn Féin were in government in the South, students in Lifford would get free tuition, but, while it is in government in the North, students would be expected to pay thousands and thousands of pounds, and, in fact, Sinn Féin would continue to increase fees. Where is the border when it comes to Sinn Féin? It is clear through its policies. It needs to be honest with the electorate, because the postcode lottery that it has allowed to be rolled out over the past number of years is unacceptable, and it is fooling no one whatsoever. Our students will not be fooled, and we will stand firmly in their corner, as we have done for the past number of years. Poverty in this place has also spiralled out of control. One in four children in Northern Ireland is living in relative poverty. That is a shocking statistic, and — guess what? — it is worsening day by day on this Executive's watch. Parties promised the sun, the moon and the stars to people at the time of the election, but since they got into power and on to the Executive, they have delivered very little to improve people's lives. My God, when you look at the Executive's record, it is embarrassing. What can they point to that has been a success? Even with the various projects that are being rolled out, be it Strule, the A5 or the transport hub, all have overspent. That comes down to complete and absolute incompetence at the heart of government to get projects done in a timely fashion and in a cost-effective way that is in the interests of our taxpayers. The truth is that the Executive have no vision, no ambition and no plan. Their plan is very simple: stand still, look busy for photographs and pretend that everything is going well. On the ground, however, the situation is very different. In our emergency departments, it is very different. In homes across Strabane, Omagh and other parts of Northern Ireland, it is very different. People are struggling daily, and — guess what? — it is the responsibility of the Executive to improve people's lives and to bring about the changes that will lift up our people and offer them some hope for the future. This week, when we hear about tuition fees and about the concerns that young people are leaving these islands, and this part of this island, to go elsewhere, it has to be said that that is not just down to the challenges with further education but down to everything. The Executive have failed at absolutely everything that they have touched. They are a disaster. People on the ground are starting to realise that the DUP/Sinn Féin love-in in government has not been in their best interests. After the squabbles have ended over who is First Minister and who is deputy First Minister and the dust finally settles, at the end of the mandate, the DUP, Sinn Féin and the other Executive parties will need to point to what they have achieved in government that has improved people's lives, because the picture out there is very depressing and is worsening by the day. Sinn Féin is in government and on the Executive. It holds the posts of First Minister, Economy Minister, Finance Minister and Infrastructure Minister. When Nichola Mallon was the Infrastructure Minister previously, we were starved for funding, but there is no such excuse now, because all that the Infrastructure Minister has to do is speak to the Finance Minister from her party to get the funding to resolve the waste water infrastructure crisis that is hindering the progression of all things in Northern Ireland, including housing development. It is time to get real. The truth is that those on the Executive should have very red faces, because the Budget is a sham, and it will leave people worse off than they were yesterday.

1,164 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:38 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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