Debate contribution: Budget 2026-29/2030: Reports

Debate contribution by Mrs Diane Dodds on 11 May 2026.

MLA

Mrs Diane Dodds

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

11 May 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Committee Business

Heading

Budget 2026-29/2030: Reports

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5524050

Read the official Assembly record

Text

It is acknowledged across the Chamber that there are very difficult decisions in any forthcoming Budget process, and there are responsibilities to be borne by politicians in the Assembly as well as by our national Government at Westminster. We all agree, and I have heard it across the Chamber during the debate, that we still suffer from underfunding. I hope that, in the middle of the chaos that is the current Labour Party, there will be an understanding of the needs of Northern Ireland, and that there will be room for this part of the Kingdom in whatever the Prime Minister's reset is going to look like. It has become clear that the Budget that has been produced by the Sinn Féin Finance Minister is not supported by any party in the Chamber. If any Sinn Féin Members want to tell me different, I will be happy to give them time to do so. The weight of the cuts in the Budget will be borne by Health, Education and Communities, impacting on the care of the most vulnerable, the education of the young, and the building of houses for families. A Budget process must go alongside fair and sensible decision-making. Today, I have heard from the opposite side of the Chamber much talk about being up for taking tough decisions, yet they got themselves incredibly spooked by the SDLP when it came to the deferral of hospital car parking charges. If we cannot take tough decisions on £7 million — Sinn Féin and the SDLP were spooked by that — I am not sure how we will take other tough decisions, particularly in light of the fact that Sinn Féin continues to introduce private Members' Bills that are uncosted and for which there is no identifiable funding. I would like to hear from the Finance Minister on whether he believes that that is a sensible way forward. The Health budget continues to take over half of the total block grant for Northern Ireland. I am glad that the Health Minister has decided to prioritise staff pay this year; that is right and appropriate. I was also glad to hear the permanent secretary in the Department say that prioritisation in the Health budget must include the key objectives of reform and delivery. There is so much to be done. Our cancer waiting lists are by far the worst in the United Kingdom. Only 5% of women see a consultant within the 14-day target from when they discover a suspicious lump. That is an untenable position for Northern Ireland, and we are failing women very badly. I use this debate to say that we need an emergency action plan for cancer patients. We can, and must, do better. I am glad of the work that has been done on waiting list reductions, but we do not know, for example, what happens to patients who have had scopes for a particular condition, which is the area in which there has been the greatest reduction. We do not know what happens to them because Northern Ireland does not have a pathway that takes patients from their referral to treatment that gives us data on how many of them went on to receive further treatment or simply joined another waiting list. That is an important point, because, if we are to spend money appropriately and effectively, we must have the data to help us do that. We also have the waiting list reduction scheme, which the Minister introduced at the cost of £10 million. Only £4·49 million of that was spent. The remainder was reallocated, but I suggest that, in future, the Minister looks at his priorities in that regard. I will finish on two points around the neighbourhood model. When the Minister is demanding that 2% of the trusts' budget is taken to implement his neighbourhood model, which will deliver care to people in their own communities, he needs to reassure the House that it will not be a rehash of things that they have already done, that there will be a proper auditing process of the 2% —

— and that we will see real change. Thank you.

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

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:38 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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