O'Dowd accuses government of refusing to fund Stormont fairly

The Finance Minister, John O'Dowd, has accused the secretary of state of seeking to tax "workers, families and businesses" in Northern Ireland because the government "refuses to fund it fairly".

No resolution was reached in negotiations between executive parties and Sir Chris Bryant on a budget deal on Thursday.

The Northern Ireland secretary has said that it is not his "job" to set a budget and that it is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive, adding there was "no more money".

He is understood to have presented a set of conditions, including revenue raising, to be attached to any potential deal on a Stormont budget.

However O'Dowd hit out at this: "When you hear Chris Bryant talk about revenue raising, by and large, what he means is how can we place more taxes on workers, families and businesses because the British government refuses to fund this place fairly," he said.

"Unless the British government changes tact in terms of fairness and sustainability of funding here, we're always going to run into these challenges in delivering our public services, sustaining them and growing our economy," said O'Dowd.

Seven months into this financial year, the Northern Ireland Executive has still not agreed a budget.

O'Dowd said departments are currently operating under 95% of their budget adding "those challenges will become more acute" by the end of the calendar year.

"There has to be a recognition within the British government; for decades now they have significantly underfunded this place which has led to the challenges we currently face, " he told BBC Ulster's Good Morning Ulster Programme.

O'Dowd said as well additional funding, a sustainable and fair package is needed.

"There's no deal until there's a deal and our focus has been on reaching a point on where I can bring forward proposals to the executive which allows us to pay our public sector workers."

He added that as long as there is engagement and proposals coming forward then there is an opportunity to move forward.

"At the end of this initial process, I believe challenges will remain, and we need to get the British government to a position where we have a fair and sustainable funding package for this place."

Speaking on BBC Newsline, Sir Chris said it is the "legal responsibility and duty" of the executive to set a budget.

He is understood to have presented a set of conditions, including revenue raising, to be attached to any potential deal on a Stormont budget.

Sir Chris said: "They really have to take me seriously when I say there is no more money."

However, the general secretary of the trade union NIPSA Carmel Gates said the Secretary of State came across as "arrogant and condescending" on Newsline.

She called for a needs-based budget stating that its current parameters would mean more cuts.

"The Secretary of State needs to get his head out of the sand, he needs to understand this place," she said.

She added if he continues to have this attitude of not giving the Executive more money, "he needs to go".

"As the British government's representative here, he needs to understand this place and he needs to understand that years of underfunding is not caused by fiscal irresponsibility amongst the executive."

Talks between the government and the executive parties have been taking place for several months now, but earlier this week O'Dowd warned that a "crunch point" is approaching.

On Tuesday, the executive met again, with O'Dowd saying afterwards that he planned to present a series of options to his ministerial colleagues in the days ahead about a way forward.

He did not divulge what those may be, but the government has already said no to a request from the executive to allow a larger chunk of the money in the three-year offer to be spent this year, referred to as "front-loading".

Without an agreed budget, departments face operating on emergency spending restricted to 95% of the prior year, with warnings that funds could run out by January.

The secretary of state has also warned that a cost-of-living £100 payment cannot be made to households in Northern Ireland until an executive budget is agreed.

That came after the government announced its first budget under Andy Burnham last week, with Northern Ireland getting an additional £270m for public services as a result, of which £131m can be used this year.

Sir Chris has said that he is exploring contingency measures to allow him to pass a budget bill at Westminster, in the event that a deal cannot be reached to do so at Stormont.