30 September 2026

SDLP Leader of the Opposition Matthew O’Toole MLA has said reaching the halfway point of the financial year without an agreed Budget demonstrates the scale of the Executive’s failure to govern.

Speaking ahead of today’s Finance Committee, Mr O’Toole said the political turmoil surrounding Drumcree cannot be allowed to push the Budget crisis down the agenda, and warned that any collapse of the institutions would leave public services facing even greater uncertainty.

Matthew O'Toole MLA said:

"Tonight we will reach the halfway point of the financial year without a Budget. Six months have passed with departments unable to plan properly, public services already under enormous pressure and organisations across Northern Ireland wondering what funding they can rely on. That is a remarkable failure of government and we should not allow everything else happening this week to obscure it.

"The situation around Drumcree is extremely serious and political leaders have a responsibility to lower tensions and find a resolution. But governing Northern Ireland cannot simply stop while that happens. Tomorrow is the deadline set by the Secretary of State for agreement on a Budget and the four Executive parties still have to explain how they intend to get one over the line.

"If the current political crisis ends with the Executive coming down, all of this gets much worse. Health waiting lists would still be there, schools would still need funding and public sector workers would still need to be paid. Departments already trying to manage without an agreed Budget would lose political direction altogether and there would be even less local control over decisions that will affect everyone across the North. Anyone contemplating collapse needs to be clear about what they would actually be walking away from.

"The SDLP has consistently argued that Northern Ireland needs a fairer and more sustainable funding settlement, and that case remains. But there is no funding arrangement that removes the basic responsibility of an Executive to make choices about the money available to it. Six months without a Budget cannot be explained away by Westminster, Drumcree or anything else.

"This week is a test of whether the parties running Stormont are capable of dealing with more than one difficult issue at a time. People are entitled to expect Ministers to bring the temperature down around Drumcree while also doing the day job they asked to do. Agreeing a Budget is about as basic a part of that job as it gets."