THE Irish government should have a consultative role in the Northern Ireland Budget, according to the SDLP.
The party made the call as MPs at Westminster debate the NI Budget Bill. Northern Ireland is currently without an Executive at Stormont due the DUP’s boycott of the institutions as it continues its protest over the post-Brexit Irish Sea trading border.
In recent months the Irish government have made financial interventions in Northern Ireland, including in higher education, the training of nurses, as well as infrastructure projects. It comes as the Republic of Ireland is also predicted to have a €65.2bn budget surplus by 2027.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: “For 19 months people have been waiting for the DUP to get back to work. We were told to wait until after the local government elections, then until after the summer and then to autumn.
“Autumn has arrived and still we are without a local devolved government, meanwhile this Tory budget will have a devastating effect on people here as a result of the brutal cuts to public services.
“The DUP can’t be allowed to call the shots anymore, they need to understand that power-sharing will endure, whether they like it or not and whether they take part or not. In the absence of an Executive, the spirit of the Agreement must be facilitated by enhanced cooperation between the British and Irish Governments."
The party’s South Belfast MP Claire Hanna MP said a “short-term reactionary budget” will deliver hardship while “failing to tackle issues around the transformation of services”.
“We must also be cautious of the false economy of penny pinching today only to have to pay a bigger price down the road. Urgent reform of services cannot be put off,” she added.
“We need a new approach, new thinking to create solutions to these problems and it would be prudent to approach some of these on an all-island basis.”
