Stormont Executive agrees £55m for public sector pay awards and roads

The biggest allocation of £18.3m is going to the Department of Health.

The Northern Ireland Executive has agreed allocations of £55 million, including for public sector worker pay awards and the roads network.

The money came as a result of additional Barnett consequentials and reduced requirements from Stormont departments.

The biggest allocation of £18.3 million is going to the Department of Health, followed by £16.8 million for the Department for Infrastructure as well as funding for the Department of Education and the Department for Communications.

Finance Minister John O’Dowd said the Executive is fulfilling its commitment to meeting public sector pay awards.

“At December monitoring, I committed that if any further funding became available, I would move quickly to allocate this towards public sector pay pressures,” he said.

“As an Executive we remain fully committed to supporting public sector pay.

“We have therefore agreed to allocate £25 million in additional resource funding towards meeting health service and teacher pay costs.”

In terms of capital spending allocations, Mr O’Dowd said almost £17 million will be invested in the transport and roads network, including funding for fixing roads.

There will be £6.5 million “to help people with disabilities adapt their homes — ensuring their living spaces truly meet their needs and support greater independence”.

He added that £6.4 million will be allocated for education.

“While additional funding is welcome, it is nowhere on the scale required to meet the challenges facing departments. Our public finances remain extremely constrained this year and going into next year,” Mr O’Dowd said.

“I remain committed to working in partnership with my ministerial colleagues to find a way forward on the multi-year budget.”

Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins welcomed the additional capital allocation for her department.

She said it will allow for further investment, including for roads affected by recent bad weather.

“As a department with responsibility for the maintenance, development and planning of critical infrastructure, additional investment such as this is always helpful, especially as it will now allow for targeted road maintenance to be rolled out in the coming weeks,” she said.

“We are operating amidst a legacy of underfunding from the British Government but despite that, we will continue to maximise the budget we have to deliver positive change for people right across the North.”