Murphy says budget an attempt to 'punish' the DUP for not forming an Executive
Representatives from each of the five main parties debated the cause of and solutions to the black hole in the Stormont budget.
Northern Ireland is currently facing a large gap in its public finances, with hundreds of millions of pounds of savings or revenue raises required to fix the issue.
The parties disagreed on the cause of the budgetary issues, but all five believed NI required more aid from the UK government.
Former finance minister Conor Murphy MLA of Sinn Féin said that the budget was an attempt to "punish" the DUP for not forming an Executive, and that the most vulnerable in society would face the consequences of this.
He also blamed the DUP for collapsing the Executive as the parties were agreeing a three-year budget, which he says, "would've given certainty to departments over the three years, it would've allowed for us to plan for things like transformation in the health service.
"That has now all been lost"
The DUP's Phillip Brett MLA rejected the idea that the crisis was caused by the DUP's unwillingness to enter government, saying that Stormont being re-established tomorrow "would not take away the current black hole in the budget."
He said that a harsh budget would be a "political choice" by the UK government, and that the Secretary of State needs to "realise that NI has been under-invested in for many years"
The Alliance party's Andrew Muir MLA said that improvement in Northern Ireland's financial situation was possible if the Executive was restored and undertook a programme of investment.
Mr Muir pointed to the cost of "division" in education, the "costs of decarbonisation of our economy", and the need to "overhaul" Northern Ireland water.
He described the current situation as "frankly, carnage".
UUP deputy leader Robbie Butler MLA said that Northern Ireland is missing out on investment due to the current Stormont impasse.
He added that "the treasury has to face up to the pressures that the people of Northern Ireland are under."
"The fact that the health service is so under pressure, our education service is so under pressure."
The SDLP's Matthew O'Toole said that his party would play an important role in a future assembly as an opposition party.
He further said that just as the British Government were making a political choice in their budget, so too are the DUP "making a political choice to give the NIO that choice" by staying out of government.
"They're the ones who are saying that this Tory government should be setting a budget for Northern Ireland."
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