24 February 2026
A new report has starkly illustrated how little progress made has been made in improving the Executive’s budget setting, the SDLP Opposition leader has said.
Matthew O’Toole was speaking after a new publication from the NI Fiscal Council on the draft multi-year Budget which said the recent £400 million reserve claim was “another de facto bailout” for the Executive.
The money will effectively go towards filling the same funding gap that has existed for years in the NI Executive budget – with apparently little achieved in the past two years in relation to either public service transformation or raising additional local revenue.
The failure to grasp these challenges, along with the continued lack of agreement on a multi-year budget, only point to the failure of the Executive to deliver the kind of meaningful change promised two years ago when the institutions were restored.
Matthew O’Toole MLA said:
“Today’s report highlights starkly that little or no progress has been made in changing the underlying problems with the NI Budget in the last two years. As the Fiscal Council indicates, the Executive is simply availing of the same balance transfer year after year rather than getting to grip with the fundamental challenges.
“Two years ago, the public were promised a clear plan to address our long-term challenges, backed with a plan to transform public services and get a grip of public finances. None of that has happened, and we arrive at the absurd situation we have today where the Sinn Féin Finance Minister harps on the evils of British austerity while inviting the Treasury in to scrutinise what is supposed to be devolved spending.
“And most frustrating of all, while enthusiastically shifting blame to London and each other, Executive parties cannot or will not agree a multi-year Budget to give some degree of certainty to public servants.”