The DUP pressed ahead with the final stage of the welfare reform bill today despite concerns that it will precipitate a crisis that would jeopardise the Northern Executive and Assembly.
There was some speculation that the heart illness of DUP leader and First Minister Peter Robinson might allow for the debate to be postponed. However the DUP social development Minister Mervyn Storey said in the Assembly chamber that the debate must proceed.
“The time for talking is now over, the time is now for decisions, for getting on with the implementation of reforms,” said Mr Storey.
"Unfortunately the fiscal reality of Northern Ireland is that we can't afford a more expensive and more extensive system than the rest of the UK. If we spend more on benefits the harsh reality is that we have less to spend on schools, hospitals and other public services."
Mr Storey and other Assembly members including Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness wished Mr Robinson and his family well and hoped he would have a speedy recovery.
Mr Robinson was due to take question time in the Assembly on Tuesday afternoon but that was deleted from the agenda due to his illness.
The current DUP Minister of Finance Arlene Foster briefly stood in for Mr Robinson in 2010 during the controversy over how his wife Iris secured loans for her former lover Kirk McCambley. So far the DUP has taken no decision on whether Mr Robinson should be temporarily replaced as First Minister while he recovers from his illness.
In the meantime in the absence of his strategic direction Mr Storey and other DUP members were pushing ahead with the final stage of the welfare reform bill.
Petition of concern
This could potentially lead to a political crisis as the DUP is almost certain to lose the vote after Sinn Féin, with the support of the SDLP and the single Green member Steven Agnew, submitted a cross-community petition of concern. This in effect gives Sinn Féin a veto on the bill.
Before his illness Mr Robinson warned that if the welfare bill was rejected that the Executive and Assembly could collapse this week because the Executive would face an unsustainable £600 million shortfall.
If the vote is lost the DUP has said it will call on the British government to take over responsibility for welfare from the Executive.
The Northern Secretary Theresa Villiers also warned that if the dispute was not settled that the entire Stormont House Agreement covering issues such as the Executive budget, how to deal with the past and public service reform would be placed in "jeopardy".
Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan briefed his colleagues on the situation on Tuesday.
Dangerous impasse
He said afterwards that the impasse has “serious implications” for the stability of the political institutions at Stormont and implementation of the Stormont House Agreement
“The Government agreed that every possible effort must be made to encourage and support the Northern Ireland Executive parties to reach an agreement on welfare reform that is both politically acceptable and financially viable,” he said.
Mr Flanagan said that as well as providing a template for financial stability in Northern Ireland, the Stormont House Agreement represented an agreed way forward for addressing the contentious legacy of the past.
“These are gains worth fighting for and, working with our partners, the Government is determined that the potential represented by the Agreement will be realised,” said Mr Flanagan.
The cabinet also expressed its regret at the illness of the Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and conveyed its best wishes his full and prompt recovery.
Devastating Tory cuts
During the debate Mr McGuinness said the biggest threat to the Stormont institutions were the “devastating Tory cuts”. He called for a united front to resist the British government’s welfare changes and added that “capitulating to pressure and to Tories in London is a major tactical error”.
“The current crisis has come about solely through the actions of the British government, it can only be resolved by the actions of the British government,” added Mr McGuinness.
The continuing political impasse was discussed by the Cabinet in Dublin on Tuesday.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan briefed his colleagues on the deadlock and later said that the impasse has “serious implications” for the stability of the political institutions at Stormont and for the continued implementation of the totality of the Stormont House Agreement which was concluded at the beginning of this year after months of negotiations.
“The Government agreed that every possible effort must be made to encourage and support the Northern Ireland Executive parties to reach an agreement on welfare reform that is both politically acceptable and financially viable,” he said.
The debate is continuing in the Assembly.
