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Good morning John

On Thursday, the Northern Ireland Executive agreed a budget for the next twelve months which gave the Department of Health an increase of 6.4% or £455m on their allocation at the same point last year.

This was a challenging budget process as the amount of money each Department asked for surpassed the amount of money in the bank. But just like your own household budget, when the bank balance is low, you must prioritise. 

Of the funds available 51.2% was allocated to the Department of Health with the chart below outlining the overall distribution.  The Health Minister voted against the budget.

We asked Robin Swann directly to give us an alternative plan which could still fund our schools whilst giving him the budget allocation he had requested. He didn't have an answer.

Robin also separately voted against £25m being ear-marked to address childcare costs and £1.6m being allocated to tackle pollution in Lough Neagh.

Fundamentally, Robin Swann as Minister of Health must bring forward plans which deliver better health outcomes.  Northern Ireland spends more on health per head than any other part of the UK yet our outcomes are amongst the worst. This is not sustainable.

During my press conference comments I explained that to meet the Health Minister’s request for an additional £1Billion (58% of the available budget) we would have had nothing left for any other Department. Nothing to deal with pressures in our schools, for our teachers, for childcare or special needs, for policing, or any other issue. With 51% of the budget already going to health we urgently need to see the proposals on health transformation. It is simply not a sustainable way forward to keep cutting all other budgets to meet the ever-growing demands.

We are in the business of making Northern Ireland a prosperous place for people to live, work and raise their family. We have so much potential but reform of public services is necessary.

It will also require investment in infrastructure so we can continue building houses, roads, schools and hospitals. For decades investment in our sewage and roads network was stalled as money was diverted into rebuilding bombed town centres. That’s why much of water and sewage infrastructure belongs to a bygone era. That must change.

To that end, we have requested a meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss the long-term funding of Northern Ireland. This will build on the campaign led by our Party Leader Gavin Robinson to ensure Northern Ireland is properly funded against our level of need.

Just like your house, when you have a big spend on your roof or building an extension, you plan for the expenditure and spread the cost over a period of years. So too government must be able to set longer term budgets to enable planned spending on major projects.

Finally, as deputy First Minister I thank each party member and supporter who has been an encouragement to me as I seek to represent Northern Ireland in this Office.

Best wishes,

Emma Little-Pengelly MLA

Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland