Northern Ireland's new finance minister is expected to announce the assembly's spending plans for the year ahead on Wednesday.

Mark Durkan of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) will outline how the executive is to divide up the �8.6bn allocated to the province from Westminister in a speech to the assembly.

However, ministers have already indicated that allocation for the next year will have to be based on existing plans already set out by the former ministers of the Northern Ireland Office.

The assembly will not have the opportunity to influence spending priorities until next year.

Francie Molloy, chairman of the committee for finance and personnel, said it would be looking in future at how government funds could be spread more evenly across executive departments and targeted at areas most in need.

The Sinn Fein MLA for Mid Ulster told BBC Radio Ulster: "I think west of the Bann, it is very important we ensure that an area that has been deprived of financial resources of infrastructure and of agricultural development over the last number of years, that that area is given support at this particular time.

Also on Wednesday, Sinn Fein are due to launch their programme for government.

The party had been due to launch the document last week, but instead revealed that they had found a bugging device in a car they had used during the important Mitchell negotiations.

Junior appointments row

Assembly business continues following a heated debate on Tuesday night about whether two additional junior ministers should be appointed to the new power-sharing executive.

The assembly narrowly voted to back the decision by the first minister and deputy first minister to appoint the two junior ministers at Stormont.

The vote was 49 in favour and 38 against despite opposition from all other parties in the assembly except the Ulster Unionists and SDLP.

The smaller parties opposed the move because David Trimble and Seamus Mallon plan to appoint junior ministers from their own parties, the Ulster Unionists (UUP) and SDLP, to the posts within their first and deputy first ministers' office.

They claimed the UUP and SDLP were using their position of power in the assembly to monopolise additional posts on the new 10-member power-sharing executive.

Sinn Fein ministers Martin McGuinness and Bairbre de Brun said the UUP and SDLP already had the lion's share of ministerial posts and that the two junior posts should be divided between Sinn Fein and the DUP.

Mr McGuinness said: "This is supposed to be an inclusive agreement and we would like as many parties as possible involved in these appointments."

The DUP said the appointments were not justified.

DUP Social development minister Nigel Dodds said: "No-one can sensibly come to the conclusion that this justifies the creation of two more ministers, other than for the purpose of putting political appointees in positions to satisfy the need for jobs for the boys."

But Seamus Mallon and David Trimble said the new ministers will work closely with them, and should therefore come from their own parties.

David Trimble added that he and Mr Mallon needed deputies to help them with their workload.

He said: "This is quite a remarkable burden that we have to carry and it is for that reason that myself and the deputy first minister came to the conclusion that we needed, as a matter of urgency, to have ministerial deputies to whom a lot of this day-to-day work could be delegated under our joint supervision."

The Ulster Unionist assembly member for South Down, Dermot Nesbitt, is the most likely choice on the unionist side. He has been loyal to Mr Trimble and played a role in the negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement and subsequently the Mitchell review of its implementation.

The SDLP choice could be Alex Attwood, member for West Belfast. Speculation has also centred on Eddie McGrady, from South Down, a party veteran or Alban Maginness of north Belfast.