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NI budget: 'Little political appetite to seize the moment'

John CampbellEconomics and business editor, BBC News NI
News imageGetty Images A close up of sterling pound notes and coins.Getty Images
NI's budget watchdog said that the NI Budget is in a "not dissimilar position to that which led to the most recent executive collapse"

Northern Ireland's budget watchdog has raised doubts about whether Stormont ministers will be able to agree a three-year budget.

Multi-year budgets are seen as an important way to improve financial management and planning across the public sector.

It has been 15 years since the executive last agreed a multi-year budget which covered the period 2011-2015.

The NI Fiscal Council said there now appears to be "little political appetite to seize the moment".

It has also drawn parallels with the last failed attempt to agree a multi-year budget in 2022.

It said: "The NI Budget is in a not dissimilar position to that which led to the most recent executive collapse in 2022, when a Budget could not be agreed."

It pointed to concerns then over the affordability of pay deals and the risk of overspending as issues which "closely parallel those currently facing the executive."

The Finance Minister, Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd, sent his budget proposals to executive colleagues on Christmas Eve before releasing them for public consultation in early January.

He said: "A multi-year budget provides the opportunity to give departments the certainty they need for long-term planning and create the conditions to drive transformational change."

However the draft has been rejected by other parties with the Deputy First Minister, the DUP's Emma Little Pengelly, describing it as "deeply flawed."

News imagePA Media John O'Dowd is talking to the media. He's wearing a black suit with a blue shirt and patterned tie. The blue backdrop says Northern Ireland Executive. PA Media

Some MLAs are also sceptical about agreeing a three-year budget given that the next Assembly election is just over a year away.

The public consultation runs until 3 March with responses to be collated and provided to the executive in advance of any budget decisions.

Speaking in the assembly on Tuesday, O'Dowd said that in parallel to the consultation he has been engaging with other ministers in a series of bilateral meetings.

"I stand ready to continue to work together with my executive colleagues to support workers, families, communities and businesses by delivering a multi-year budget," he added.

If a budget cannot be agreed by the start of the financial year in April there are well established procedures which will roll forward the previous year's funding and allow ministers to keep spending.