MONEY needed for the administration of a Troubles pension scheme is to be included in a reallocation of Stormont funds expected to be announced today.
Funding for the continuation of free school meal payments throughout the summer months will also be part of the June monitoring round by finance minister Conor Murphy.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said yesterday it was her "understanding" that £2.5m needed for preparatory work for the pension scheme would be part of the reallocation of unspent funds.
However, a disagreement over draft guidelines for the implementation of the scheme remains unresolved, with Sinn Féin refusing to nominate a department to bring it forward.
It is angry at British government guidelines that appear to widen criteria for excluding people from pensions, which it believes would discriminate against republican ex-prisoners.
There is also still no agreement from Westminster to fund the payments, which would compensate those seriously injured during the conflict with a pension of up to £10,000 a year.
