Failure to access an additional £300 million in Stormont funding in the coming financial year would be a waste, a shame and a disgrace, the health minister has said.
Robin Swann said he has bid for £26 million of the pot to help tackle the north's spiralling waiting lists but he said the majority of the cash should be spent helping people weather the cost of living crisis.
The status of the £300 million has become the subject of intense political debate, with Sinn Féin Finance Minister Conor Murphy insisting the extra money for 2022/23 cannot be accessed due to the DUP move to collapse the Executive.
Ministers are currently unable to sign off on a new budget due to the powersharing impasse, meaning departments will have to fall back on emergency arrangements to continue funding public services.
Mr Murphy has said an additional £300 million directed to Northern Ireland for the coming financial year cannot be spent due to the lack of Executive.
However, the DUP dispute this, insisting the £300 million is not intrinsically linked to the budget settlement and could be distributed in a separate process involving Mr Murphy and individual departments bidding for allocations.
The DUP has further rejected the claim that its move to withdraw Paul Givan as First Minister is the reason the draft three-year budget has not progressed, highlighting that the proposed spending plan had failed to secure the backing of a majority of Executive parties prior to the collapse of the administration.
Mr Swann was asked about the row today.
The UUP MLA told reporters it was his understanding that an executive was required to release the money.
The minister also referenced efforts by the SDLP to find a way to access the funds by way of an emergency private member’s bill at Stormont.
Commenting on the prospect of the money being left unspent, he said: “It would be a waste, it would be a shame and a disgrace.”
Mr Swann explained why he had only bid for £26 million of the money.
“We’re conscious of the additional needs of that £300 million in regards for heating and food allowances and the pressures that we’re seeing across cost of living across Northern Ireland,” he said.
“We could certainly bid for more but we have to be realistic and proportionate about the greater need as well.”
The Executive imploded last month when DUP First Minister Mr Givan resigned in protest at Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol. The move automatically removed Ms O’Neill from her post as deputy First Minister.
Other ministers remain in post in shadow format but the wider administration cannot meet or take significant decisions, such as striking a budget.
