STORMONT MINISTER for Finance Sammy Wilson last night suggested that cuts could be found in the first instance by dropping low-priority programmes and quangos. However, he also conceded that much more would follow in the next financial year.

“What Ministers must do and must do responsibly is to look at their budgets closely and decide what things are low priority within those budgets,” he said.

“Is there administration that they could cut out? Are there unnecessary quangos that they could do away with to ensure that when we do make the reductions we are not hitting services.”

He admitted to UTV: “This is only the start of a process of reductions, and knowing that next year’s reductions are likely to be far, far more than what we’re going to experience this year, it would be imprudent to say ‘let’s not take any hard decisions now’.”

The Institute of Directors said that while there was general agreement on the need to “rebalance” the Northern economy by lessening the dependence on the public sector, there was little consensus on how to achieve it.

Chairman Joanne Stuart said: “The IoD believes that all these circumstances combine now to provide a new range of opportunities for more effective use of resources in Northern Ireland, and that Northern Ireland could lead the way in restructuring the balance between public and private sectors.

“The key is the realisation that public services do not have to be provided only by public bodies. Indeed many public services are currently delivered by private companies and not-for-profit organisations.”

The head of Northern Ireland’s largest union said Stormont and Westminster should consider what he called an “alternative to cuts”.

Brian Campfield of the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance said: “It involves investing in resources to chase the estimated £123 billion lost each year to the public purse as a consequence of a combination of tax evasion, tax avoidance and uncollected taxes. It also involves setting higher tax rates for very high earners and in doing so the UK government can begin to tackle inequality in our society.”

Small traders organisation NIIRTA has also warned against severe cuts.

“The Northern Ireland Executive is now facing over £500 million in cuts to its budget as a result of the chancellor’s announcement. Our local ministers are now facing tough choices about where the axe will fall,” chief executive Glyn Roberts said.

“If the wrong decisions are made then we face the prospect of stalling our already very fragile recovery, particularly given Northern Ireland’s high dependency on the public sector.”