Debate contribution: Multi-year Budget

Debate contribution by Ms Sinéad McLaughlin on 25 November 2025.

MLA

Ms Sinéad McLaughlin

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

25 November 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Multi-year Budget

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5258815

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I thank all those who contributed to the debate. Northern Ireland deserves a Government who plan ahead, not one that stumbles from one financial year to the next. That is really what the motion is about. For far too long, our public services have been trapped in a system that offers no stability, no long-term direction and no sense of strategic purpose. When schools cannot plan their staffing, when health trusts do not know what they can afford beyond a few months and when universities warn of financial strain and uncertainty, it is obvious that the way in which we budget is part of the problem. Operating a single-year Budget process forces Departments into short-term thinking; prevents them from investing early in reforms that would save them money in the long run; limits their ability to redesign services in a way that works for people; and creates a culture of firefighting instead of planning. A multi-year Budget will not fix everything, certainly not overnight, but it will provide certainty that will allow Departments and the people who work in them to make sensible, responsible decisions. It will give space for innovation, forward planning, strategic investment and the reform that, we all know, this place desperately needs. We cannot talk about long-term planning without acknowledging the instability at the heart of the institutions. Budgets, strategies and priorities are meaningless if there is no functioning Executive in place to implement them. Our public services have endured repeated collapses of government, some lasting years. During those periods, nothing progresses, consequences pile up and problems deepen. Services do not pause because Stormont has paused. Children waiting for assessments do not pause. Families struggling with childcare costs do not pause. Hospitals, schools and community organisations do not pause. When the Executive collapse, the public — our people; our constituents — pay the price. If we want a system that is capable of delivering a multi-year Budget, we need institutions that cannot be switched off when political disagreements arise. The structures of government must be resilient enough to withstand political turbulence. That requires serious institutional reform, because reliable budgeting depends on reliable governance — without both, progress is impossible. A long-term Budget must also align with the Programme for Government. For too long, we have had promises on paper with no stable financial plan behind them. The result is predictable: ambitions fade when budgets tighten, and commitments fall away, because there was never any serious, realistic plan to fund them. Minister, I get really frustrated that, each time we ask about budgets, the response is the same: if the money is not there, it is because of the Brits, and, if the money is there, it is because of you, Minister, or Sinn Féin. I will give you an example. I recently asked the Infrastructure Minister about moss on pavements in my constituency. Her answer was that it was the fault of British austerity. That is just bonkers. It is childish. We cannot keep on doing that. We have responsibilities in government. Consider childcare. Northern Ireland has the highest childcare costs across these islands. Families feel that pressure every week. For years, the SDLP has called for proper investment to make childcare genuinely affordable. Yet, when childcare Barnett consequentials were available, they were not protected. That decision set us back significantly. Had those funds been ring-fenced, we would be building a childcare system that supports families; strengthens the economy; and helps to tackle poverty, including child poverty, in our constituencies. Instead, we remain playing catch-up, and families pay the price. That is why the SDLP has taken matters into its own hands. While the Executive have continued to drift from crisis to crisis, we have been doing the serious work on policy that they should be doing. We have published detailed papers on childcare, our future relationship with Europe, the reform of housing and the arts. We have even published an alternative Programme for Government. We are credibly outlining how we would do things differently. We are not just pointing out what is wrong; we are setting out fully formed proposals on how to fix things. We are not just sitting in the corner and getting clicks on TikTok like Mr Gaston. The higher education and skills sector faces the same short-term pressures. Universities and FE colleges have been pushed to their limits. Earlier this year, the possibility of increasing tuition fees emerged, a clear sign of how strained the system has become. We challenged that because pushing down on students would damage opportunity and our economic future. Without a stable, multi-year funding model, the underlying pressures will simply return again and again. Skills cannot be developed on guesswork; research cannot grow without certainty; and employers cannot plan when the pipeline of talent is at risk. Economic growth depends on having a skilled workforce, and that depends on sustained investment.

Yes, go ahead.

The Member knows where I stand on defence spending, particularly if state money in Northern Ireland is being spent on genocide and the weapons of genocide. I will leave it at that. Regional balance is another area where year-to-year budgeting does real harm. Communities in the north-west and other areas in which there are long-standing economic challenges know exactly what it feels like to be promised progress that never materialises. Investment comes in short bursts; projects start and stop; and long-term commitments evaporate when budgets tighten. A fair and balanced economic model requires sustained investment over many years, not one-off announcements or short-lived cycles. If we are prepared to press Westminster for needs-based funding for Northern Ireland, we must apply the same logic to our borders and invest in the regions that have been neglected. Regions that have been overlooked for decades deserve a long-term plan that does not shift with political tides or depend on the flavour of Minister. If we are to support better budgeting, we need better financial oversight. The SDLP has called consistently for the Northern Ireland Fiscal Council to be placed on a statutory footing. When oversight is optional, accountability is also optional, and it weakens. A statutory Fiscal Council would provide transparent, independent scrutiny to ensure that financial decisions are evidence-based, long-term and not driven by short-term politics. We must also be honest about revenue. Northern Ireland cannot expect its services to improve if it refuses to explore the fiscal tools available to other devolved Governments. Scotland and Wales have already taken on additional fiscal powers. Meanwhile, we continue to rely almost entirely on the block grant, even as demand rises and pressure intensifies. We constantly criticise Britain, but we do not put any other plans in place to take responsibility. We must, therefore, like the way in which Britain throws us the money. A multi-year Budget must at least open the conversation on new fiscal powers, not to raise taxes for the sake of it but to ensure that we have the tools to protect essential services. That is why we will vote against the DUP amendment. It would water down the intent of our motion and remove any reference to the need for a greater devolution of fiscal powers. If we are serious about building a sustainable future for Northern Ireland, we cannot simply avoid the difficult conversation. A motion about long-term budgeting means little if we strip out the tools that are required to make it work. Ultimately, the motion is about changing direction. Our public services cannot survive in a system defined by volatility, instability and short-term thinking. Let me be clear: if the Executive want credible scrutiny and credible alternatives, they must empower the Opposition to deliver them. The SDLP —

— is doing the heavy lifting in opposition. We demand to have —

— the same facilities as Sinn Féin receives in the Dáil.

1,309 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:51 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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