CUTS IN public services and job losses are inevitable in Northern Ireland after the emergency British budget yesterday, Stormont Minister for Finance Sammy Wilson has said.
Mr Wilson said he would not know the precise cuts to be imposed until the government’s promised spending statement, which will be published on October 20th. However, he admitted that spending will fall by about 25 per cent over the next three financial years.
Mr Wilson’s department said the block grant to Northern Ireland will not change in the current financial year and that £128 million in cuts, already announced, will go ahead as planned.
The Executive meets tomorrow and Ministers are expected to agree on cutbacks before the Assembly summer recess begins on June 30th.
Spending on health, which accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the total in Northern Ireland, is being ring-fenced.
A spokesman said Northern Ireland would end up “probably slightly less worse off” than other regions as a result of the measures which were not as severe as many commentators had feared.
Northern Secretary Owen Paterson, in common with other British government representatives, said the austerity measures were “unavoidable”, pointing out that the exchequer could not go on borrowing £300,000 per minute to finance the deficit.
He highlighted tax changes to help businesses and claimed: “We are all in this together.”
DUP MP Nigel Dodds said many of the cuts will have to be managed and implemented locally.
“It is now important that information from the government comes quickly to the regional administrations across the UK to allow proper planning to take place,” he said.
Sinn Féin economic spokesman Mitchel McLaughlin said the Stormont institutions had no option but to implement the chancellor’s measures as there were no powers to adjust taxes or raise additional finances. “We must ensure that the Executive, despite cuts being forced upon it, works to ensure the protection of the most vulnerable whilst ensuring that vital frontline services are delivered per capita at a cost which compares favourably with other regions,” he said.
SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie said the budget was unfair “because it places far too great a reliance on public expenditure cuts as a means of tackling the deficit. This approach will always hurt those on lower incomes most.”
Ulster Unionist spokesman David McNarry called on Sinn Féin and the DUP, as the largest parties, to make a joint response. “The Executive must make a statement on the budget. They cannot continue with a ‘head in the sand’ mentality,” he said.
