Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald refuses to rule out recommending rates rise to Executive

Stormont’s Finance Minister has refused to rule out recommending a rates rise to the Executive when it meets later this week.

Caoimhe Archibald is due to hold talks with the Treasury on Wednesday about the government's 3 and a half billion pounds package offered to the incoming Executive.

The Sinn Féin minister has said she will be pressing for substantive engagement on implementing a new fiscal framework for Northern Ireland during a meeting with the Treasury.

The Minister also said that redeveloping Casement Park is a flagship project which cannot be passed up.

Ms Archibald requested the Treasury meeting following the publication of details of a £3.3 billion financial package drawn up by the UK Government to support the return of devolution in Northern Ireland.

The Government has said the powersharing Executive should raise £113 million in additional funds over the next year and produce a plan to deliver sustainable finances as a condition for the Treasury writing off almost £600 million of Stormont debt.

But Stormont leaders have voiced concern about introducing new revenue-raising measures in the region and have ruled out increasing the regional rate in Northern Ireland by 15% to raise the £113 million.

The minister said she was seeking to negotiate a new fiscal framework for Northern Ireland, and said the British government had "recognised we have been underfunded for a number of years."

"The Executive does do revenue raising" the MLA for East Londonderry said "the starting point is that we need to be properly funded in the first place so that departments and ministers are able to plan about how they are able to deliver their public services." "We have a very challenging budgetary situation. And we are going to have to prioritise and make decisions."

Speaking to UTV, Ms Archibald said that the Executive faces a fiscal "cliff-edge" at the end of the financial year 2025-26.

When pressed on if she would be recommending a rates increase to the Executive, the Minister said she did not want to preempt the discussion with her Executive colleagues that she was aiming to have later this week.

"There is a very difficult balance to strike.

"We do want to be able to deliver high quality public services. People rightly expect that they will have have access to high quality public services.

"But we also have to recognise that households, workers, families, businesses are still under pressure from the cost of living."

Ms Archibald also said that the Executive should deliver the redevelopment of Casement Park as it is a flagship project.

When asked if the Executive would make up any shortfall of funding for the project, she replied that "We need to see hat the cost is going to be.

"We need to see what the British government is going to put on the table in respect of it, because they did commit that, as part of the Euros, they would be prepared to do that.

"There have been huge inflationary increase in cost of delivery in infrastructure projects. So it's not a big surprise that they cost has gone up."

The Finance minister also answered questions in the Assembly later on Tuesday.

During this session, Ms Archibald said: “I have written to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury setting out my significant concerns in relation to elements of the financial package, including the stipulations on revenue raising.

“I am meeting with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury tomorrow where I will be pressing for substantive engagement on how we develop and implement a new fiscal framework.

“I view that very much as the start of the engagement with Treasury on these matters.

“The immediate priority is for the British Government to put in place a fair and appropriately baselined needs-based fiscal floor, which recognises our underfunding for the start of the next spending review.

“It is essential that the right level of funding is provided by Treasury to ensure we have a sustainable foundation for our finances going forward.”

SDLP Stormont leader Matthew O’Toole asked the minister if she would be recommending an above- or below-inflation rise in the regional rate when the powersharing executive meets later this week.

Ms Archibald said: “We have quite a tight timeframe within which we need to set the rate to ensure that rates bills go out for the beginning of April.

“I will be hopefully discussing with Executive colleagues this week the rate for the incoming financial year.”

Alliance Party MLA Nuala McAllister raised the issue of 10 building projects for shared and integrated schools in Northern Ireland that have had ringfenced funding withdrawn.

Education Minister Paul Givan has said the £150 million for the 10 projects was reallocated in the Treasury’s £3.3 billion financial package for the restoration of the power-sharing executive.

Ms Archibald said: “I am still awaiting clarity from Treasury as to what funding has been re-profiled.

“That is something I will be raising with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury tomorrow.

“I share the concerns that the education minister has set out, these are important projects.

“No executive parties had anything to do with the re-profiling of the money, but obviously we will have to deal with the outworkings of whatever comes next.”

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