The North's finance minister Arlene Foster is to present a budget in the Stormont Assembly next week despite the fact that Sinn Féin and the SDLP are refusing to sign up to the welfare reform element of the budget.
Ms Foster said yesterday that on Tuesday she will press ahead with what has been dubbed a “fantasy budget”.
Ms Foster’s move is essentially a measure to buy time to test whether a deal or compromise can be found on welfare reform in the coming weeks that would ensure the future of the Northern Executive and Assembly.
Sinn Féin has not ruled out endorsing this provisional budget while the Northern Secretary Theresa Villiers also saw merit in the DUP minister's proposal. "It at least gives a little bit more time to see these matters resolved," Ms Villiers said yesterday.
Both Ms Foster and the First Minister Peter Robinson have warned that, without agreement on welfare reform, the North's budget for the rest of this financial year will face an unsustainable "black hole" of £604 million (about €821 million).
However, by introducing a budget, even if it is not fully funded, Ms Foster believes that it would postpone what, in the absence of agreement on welfare, appears to be an inevitable financial crisis in the Northern Executive.
She indicated that she would proceed as if there were agreement on welfare reform, even though Sinn Féin and the SDLP have blocked such welfare change - which led to it being dubbed a “fantasy” budget.
“We are basing this budget on the full implementation of the Stormont House Agreement and that of course includes the implementation of welfare reform,” Ms Foster said.
Stopgap measure
However, Ms Foster indicated that this is merely a stopgap measure and that without agreement the crisis point would arrive by the end of July.
She said that, if there were no deal on welfare by that stage, that under legislation the permanent secretary of her department would be obliged to take over the implementation of a much-reduced budget from ministers in the North.
The DUP has also called for Ms Villiers and the British government to take over responsibility for welfare from the Executive if Sinn Féin and the SDLP continue to veto reform.
The Northern Secretary repeated yesterday that she is reluctant to make such a move, viewing British government direct intervention as a “last resort”.
