Finance Minister Simon Hamilton said he hoped devolving corporation tax and reforming welfare would not become an "either/or" decision, on 17 September 2014.

Mr Hamilton was appearing before the Finance Committee to discuss his department's strategic priorities and other budgetary issues.

Asked whether the outcome of the Scottish referendum could grant him greater "leverage" , he said he was optimistic that corporation tax powers would be devolved.

The minister said the cost of reducing corporation tax would be "a price worth paying" as "the positive transformational effect that could have for our economy is going to be huge".

"Even at the low end of estimates," he said, "we're talking about thousands of job, high paid, skilled jobs - something our country and economy need".

By contrast, Mr Hamilton said by not proceeding with welfare reform, "there is a cost, but you're not getting a benefit from the cost".

Committee chairman, Sinn Fein's Daithi McKay, asked the minister if there had been a study of the economic impact of welfare reform legislation, "I just feel that sort of analysis is lacking here", he added.

Mr Hamilton said he intended to conduct such a piece of work, as there was "a need to get a degree of clarity", especially in terms of how many families would be better off, or worse off, under the system of Universal Credit.

The UUP's Leslie Cree asked him why over £30m in Financial Transactions Capital funding had not been spent.

The minister said he found it "concerning", but there was a reluctance from departments to engage with the private sector, despite encouragement from the Department of Finance - "we're taking them to the water, but we can't make them drink".

Turning his attention to in-year monitoring rounds, Sinn Fein's Mitchel McLaughlin said that although the health minister had "a horrendous task trying to manage that budget" and had been able to make savings, there was a perception that with his bids for additional funding he was, "giving with one hand and taking with the other".

He also asked about the impact of the inflation of health care costs.

Mr Hamilton said, "if you're talking a six percent increase to the budget, just to stay still, you're getting to the point where 40, 50% of your budget's going on health - with an ageing population, it's not going to get any better."

John McCallister, now an Independent Unionist, asked where his department had identified potential savings in the public sector.

Mr Hamilton said it would be primarily in "cross-cutting issues" such as procurement and human resources.

MLAs were also briefed by DFP officials on the recent consultation on civil service pension regulations.