A bleak future for public services stretches far beyond the midwinter, according to scenarios outlined by civil servants which could see some Stormont departments have their budgets cut by 12 per cent.
Increased rates, ending free prescriptions and raising Housing Executive rents are among the other measures in a briefing paper made public by the department of finance.
Such proposals would normally be circulated among government ministers for consideration.
But these are not normal times. It is almost a year since devolution imploded, a year in which no discernable progress has been made towards re-establishing a Stormont executive.
Meanwhile, the pressure on public spending has been building as budgets become further squeezed.
That acrimony over something like the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme was allowed to derail powersharing merely underlines the dysfunctional nature of the relationship between Sinn Féin and the DUP.
That same immaturity was evident in the responses to the spending scenarios.
Former finance minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir - who did not manage to bring forward a budget before Stormont collapsed - repeated Sinn Féin's opposition to what he described as cuts imposed by the Conservatives "and supported by the DUP".
The DUP response came not from one of its MLAs, including leader Arlene Foster, but, as is becoming usual, from an MP.
Sammy Wilson's intervention was light on detail though heavy on invective against Irish language act proposals and Sinn Féin.
Rather than regard the financial situation as a spur to restoring devolution, Mr Wilson said it was time to move to direct rule.
The public might have hoped for a more thoughtful and constructive contribution from Stormont's largest party.
Their responses suggest that neither the DUP nor Sinn Féin has given much serious consideration over the past 12 months to the difficult decisions that inevitably lie ahead. The future, for now, remains bleak.
