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|John|

Over recent months households have been struggling to make ends meet with rising energy costs hitting families hard.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has made this crisis significantly worse and the effects will be felt in further energy cost rises as well as increases in the cost of food and other basic essentials.

I have written to the leaders of all Executive Parties with a request that we discuss and agree a package to help families facing this cost of living crisis. The crisis is being driven by global factors outside local or even national control. However, there is action we can take to help mitigate some of the effects.

I hope parties will respond positively to this request and we can deliver some help to hard pressed families at this time.

Looking ahead, the crisis we face also highlights problems with the draft Budget put forward by the Finance Minister. That budget wasn't designed with this crisis in mind and it isn't tailored to deliver assistance I or some of the other parties might like to see delivered. Therefore, I have also asked the other Party Leaders to discuss the need for agreement on the way forward in relation to the draft budget.

I want to see an Executive restored as soon as possible on the basis of fairness. However, it is possible to deliver on important issues in the meantime.

We were told that it wouldn't be possible to advance an apology for the victims of Historical Institutional Abuse, for Covid regulations to be rolled back or for funding to be delivered for football stadium development.

In each of those cases I was clear that progress could be made and despite initial claims from some other parties, that has proven to be correct.

We can and must also make progress on delivering assistance for families who are facing a hugely uncertain time through this cost of living crisis.
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