Northern Ireland is not prepared for impact of debt crisis

David McNarry MLA, Ulster Unionist Party Spokesman for Finance and Personnel has claimed that Sammy Wilson must be more open and start to prepare for the medium-term impact that Labour Government plans to cut the national debt will have on Northern Ireland.

In a statement Mr. McNarry said:

"The Institute of Fiscal Studies has predicted two Parliaments of pain as the Government attempts to bring the country's finances back under some type of control. Sammy Wilson has admitted that further cuts can be expected for Northern Ireland after the General Election but he has made no comment on the impact that these cuts will have here and what preparations are being made."

"In total the Government is attempting to claw back £76 billion through tax and spending by 2017 -18 and even though some £30 billion of this remains unexplained by the Labour Government we have to start the process of accessing our longer-term priorities."

"Sammy Wilson needs to come clean with the people of Northern Ireland about the impact servicing the national debt will have on Northern Ireland's Investment Strategy which runs up until 2017-18. Many businesses, industries and Government Departments use the strategy as a framework for their long-term plans. What does it mean for these sectors if it is now largely worthless? We are beginning to get a picture of the scale of the problem so we must begin to plan for a very different financial future."

"To date nothing beyond crisis management has been attempted and this has not even produced a picture of how the Executive will fare financially next year. Can Sammy Wilson even tell us how much money the Executive will have to use at the beginning of the next financial year"

"There needs to be a significant change of attitude in how the Finance Minister deals with short-term financial management and how we reset our medium to long-term priorities. If we do not start now Northern Ireland will emerge from this crisis in a much worse position than other parts of the United Kingdom."