Ulster Unionist Party Leader, Doug Beattie MC MLA has made the following statement;

"The Ulster Unionist Party has today submitted an amendment to the upcoming Assembly Budget motion seeking to defer the vote until after the June Monitoring Round.

"We have put this amendment forward as it is our understanding that there is potentially significant additional funding available for allocation in the planned June Monitoring Round. That funding, depending on the eventual scale, has the potential to ease some of the pressures we have highlighted in the existing health allocation. It therefore would make no sense for the Executive and Assembly to pass a budget that is almost certain to change within weeks.

"In addition, it is still our firm belief that there has not been a genuine assessment of the various relative risks of the proposed allocations to the population of Northern Ireland. A period of short delay would allow time for spending plans to be better assessed, to include the full complement of funding available and to be linked to the ongoing development of the Programme for Government.

"It is my hope that the amendment will be accepted by the Speaker and supported by all MLAs on Tuesday."