The Northern Ireland Executive is due to meet on Tuesday to discuss the budget impasse, six months into the financial year without an agreed spending plan.
Finance Minister John O’Dowd asked for the urgent meeting so ministers could establish a position to take back to the UK government. Stormont parties are pressing for more funding and say a package offered by Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant, worth about £1.5bn over three years, does not go far enough.
A spending watchdog estimates that Stormont departments face a shortfall of up to £1.6bn. In the absence of an agreed budget, contingency arrangements allow departments to spend up to 95% of last year’s funding.
Bryant instructed officials last week to consider contingency plans after a deadline passed for ministers to consider the offer. O’Dowd said it would interfere with devolved institutions if the Northern Ireland secretary stepped in to set departmental budgets.
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