Debate contribution: Budget Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Timothy Gaston on 24 February 2026.

MLA

Mr Timothy Gaston

Party at the time

Traditional Unionist Voice

Date

24 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Budget Bill: Second Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5404577

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The money spent on the Irish Sea border comes courtesy of Sinn Féin, the SDLP, Alliance, all the "Remoaners", all the Remainers and all those who called for rigorous implementation. That is a cost. There, Mr O'Toole: you got your bingo money tonight. That came at a cost, thanks to those sitting to my left. They seem to champion that and to trumpet it, but that is what they have delivered: money coming out of our capital spend to clean up a mess because we did not get the Brexit that we should have; because we have the protocol; and because of the rigorous implementers. They are the ones who cost us money. The £15 million that sits in the Executive Office includes money for asylum seekers. There is no greater concern in many working-class areas throughout Northern Ireland than losing their local identity, yet here we are, debating the passing of a Budget with over £4 million going into immigration issues, as referenced on page 29, lines 39 to 40. That, instead of bringing legislation to the House for proper debate, is how the Executive have chosen to allocate the money. Let us look at ending violence against women and girls. That is a real concern in every community across Northern Ireland. As I said yesterday, the scheme has £6·077 million allocated to it in the Budget but Mrs O'Neill and Mrs Little-Pengelly do not know and do not want to know how much of that will go to groups that include transgender women. To put it into language that everybody can understand, money allocated to that flagship policy will support groups that support men seeking access to female-only spaces. That is not combating violence against women and girls; it is creating concerns in our community. Nodding through spending, as the Assembly will today, without clarifying such issues and without legislation in place is not how a proper legislature should operate. If the Executive wish to fund new structures, new commissioners and new immigration programmes, they should introduce legislation and subject those policies to scrutiny before the money flows or is released to them. As I have said, clause 1 highlights the fact that Northern Ireland receives substantial support because of our place in the United Kingdom, yet, when we look around, we see record waiting lists; crumbling roads; and, when the Finance Minister launched the consultation on the Budget, an Education Minister who rushed to the press to air his grave concerns that the allocation to his Department left him in an impossible position. I think today of classroom assistants, many of whom have reached out to me to ask what the Minister's announcement means for them. We should prioritise those services and not the waste that this place loves to blow money on. People can read in the Executive Office budget on page 29 about Climate Commissioner structures, Windsor framework coordination, identity offices and cultural commissioners. They all come with bells and whistles attached, but they are not the public's priorities, and many, including me, regard them as wastage. They do nothing to address the pressures that ordinary people experience in their daily lives and nothing to ease the current cost-of-living squeeze. The Bill authorises billions. It gives legal force to spending across an ever-expanding Executive Office remit. It provides for spending on an Irish Language Commissioner, a Climate Commissioner, Windsor framework coordination and asylum integration programmes, but the Executive Office cannot tell me when a community in transition becomes transitioned. Since 2018, over £26 million has been poured into the same communities, while other communities have been starved of money. At what point do we say, "Enough is enough", and start to scrutinise what the money is spent on? The Executive Office's remit includes seeking contributions from institutions towards the cost of redress. My experience of seeing that in action is underwhelming. The House needs to do more; it should not always be left to the state to pick up the bills. That may be the core element of Sinn Féin's economic policies, but more needs to be done to go after the perpetrators, who must contribute to redress for the pain and suffering that was inflicted on many people throughout Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland benefits greatly from its place in the United Kingdom. The Budget provides for just under £33 billion of public spending, which works out at roughly £17,000 for every man, woman and child in Northern Ireland per year. That is an odd kind of austerity. The people of the Province are entitled to ask whether they each get £17,000-worth of value from public services: I believe that the answer is a resounding no. I will vote against the Budget, as it simply does not deliver value for money. The priorities of the Executive are not to look after the hard-pressed in our society, and that is why I will not support the Budget that has been presented to us today.

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

Assessment

Qualifying

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 01:21 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9. This record has been assessed 2 times; the latest assessment is shown.

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