UUP Finance spokesperson, Steve Aiken OBE MLA said:

“The report from the Fiscal Council today starkly lays out the challenges that the public sector faces in Northern Ireland.  The absence of an Executive, coupled with the inability to prioritise services, has helped create a set of fiscal pressures that if unresolved will roll over into next year’s budget and beyond.

“After all parties called for the stability of multi-year budgets, the current situation of no in year budget, only being able to spend up to 95% of previously agreed totals and no forward planning for the years ahead, is a damning indictment of failure. Sinn Fein and the DUP have much to explain for over a decade of fiscal mismanagement.  

“The UUP is seeking an urgent meeting with the Department of Finance’s Permanent Secretary to gain clarity on the department’s proposals on addressing budgetary pressures and the future budget process.”