Debate contribution: Budget Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Danny Donnelly on 24 February 2026.

MLA

Mr Danny Donnelly

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

24 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Budget Bill: Second Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5404265

Read the official Assembly record

Text

First, I acknowledge the constraints that are faced in the budgets. I do not envy the job of any Minister under the current circumstances. However, those who take on the role are taking on a responsibility to make it work as best they can. Unfortunately, too often in Health that has not materialised. We have heard in the debate, time and time again, about the need for a multi-year Budget in order to plan and deliver for better services. I sincerely hope that that can be achieved. The most important asset of any service is its workforce. I highlight the £209 million pay award for healthcare workers. The Minister proceeded with it, rightly recognising the case for pay, but without full funding being in place. The Executive subsequently covered £100 million, and the Department was required to find the remainder internally. We know that that has now been covered. The decision will have real and lasting consequences, not only for the budget but in the uncertainty that has already been created for our healthcare workers who will only be receiving that uplift this month; in fact, I think that it is tomorrow. When a Department is required to absorb tens of millions of pounds in unbudgeted costs, the pressure translates into service constraint, delayed reform and increased operational risk; adds to the structural instability; and rolls forward into the next financial year. In community pharmacy, the £20 million clawback that has been taken from community pharmacies is, in effect, being used to stabilise pressures elsewhere in the health service, while community pharmacies face medication shortages, supplier pressures and increased difficulty sustaining the services that so many people rely on. Community pharmacies are a cornerstone of primary care and a pillar of every community across Northern Ireland. If financial adjustments in that sector are being used to shore up wider HSC pressures, that is not strategic reform. It is internal cross-subsidisation that risks weakening one of the most accessible parts of our health system. If we are serious about shifting care closer to communities, we cannot continue to draw resource away from that sector. Mrs Dodds talked about palliative care, which is another important example of that. The Health Committee recently produced a report on access to palliative care. It is clear that it is a critical service, and it needs to be funded as such. Hopefully, going forward, we will see palliative care funded in a better way. A mental health strategy was launched with huge ambition and expectation, yet reporting over the past year has indicated that 80% of its actions have been paused or shelved and only 16% of the originally envisaged funding has been allocated. If prevention and early intervention are to be more than rhetoric, the forthcoming Budget must address the gap. Otherwise, pressures will continue to manifest in crisis settings, at far greater human and financial cost. In the community and voluntary sector, core grant funding underpins services that keep people well, support people in their communities and prevent escalation into acute care. Where core funding is reduced or fails to keep pace with cost pressures, we undermine the very capacity that enables system flow. Finally, we must confront a broader truth that has emerged in Committee discussions over the past year. Too often, decisions have been framed in terms of immediate savings rather than long-term efficiencies. The thrombectomy unit that has been mentioned previously is a good example of that. It is a service that will save lives, prevent disabilities and save money, but it is, as yet, unfunded. I do not need to highlight to anyone the fact that another crisis is being kicked down the line, and the forthcoming Budget must demonstrate what lessons have been learned.

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

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:01 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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