John O'Dowd
Upper Bann · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“As I set out in response to the previous question, we have in place the vacant property rate relief scheme and the small business rate relief scheme, which are very successful. I set aside £10 million in the draft Budget for small business rate relief to be invested.”
“I am particularly keen to hear from those impacted by vacant commercial units and especially about how any phased increase can be implemented in a sustainable way that is fair, proportionate and sustainable within the tax system.”
“I outlined my intent to take that approach in my statement on 18 November, alongside the fact that reform of rating policy should support growth, make better use of property and ensure that the system is fair, proportionate and aligned with wider economic objectives.”
“The accelerator will operate alongside our highly successful Back in Business scheme, which has helped to bring over 100 vacant high street properties back into use since May 2024. Those issues have been the subject of considerable interest and comment in the Assembly, and it is right that we grasp the nettle now.”
“There are no circumstances in which a hard border would be good for the people of Ireland; it would not be good for anyone. Those who suggest that are being naive at best and dangerous at worst, in the sense of not understanding this society. <BR /> <BR />Rural communities along the border are one and the same.”
“This announcement represents the next step in that. That said, I also put on record my intention to strengthen support for small businesses. In that vein, £10 million has been set aside in the draft Budget to broaden the impact of the small business rate relief scheme in order to increase the number of businesses that can benefit from it.…”
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“The tax that you can vary is the rates, and you decide what you want to set your domestic rate at and what you want to set your non-domestic rate at. You then move forward with your block grant, which, at this stage comes to around £19·3 billion. You divide that by the number of Departments, your priorities and include the direction of travel that you want to go. My job as Finance Minister is to bring proposals to the Executive, engage with Executive colleagues on what, they believe, should be the priorities and determine whether I am in the ballpark of the direction of travel. After discussion and engagement, you present a final Budget to your Executive colleagues, and they either do or do not endorse it. <BR /> <BR />In endorsing the Budget, they are stepping outside their silos.”
“We have had an extensive debate, with, I think, 27 Members speaking on the Budget. As is perhaps understandable, it has gone back and forth on what the Executive's priorities should be, what the Executive have prioritised, what Members would like to see prioritised and which is the most important Department in the Executive. The passing of a Budget in the Assembly is somewhat less complicated than it might be elsewhere in the sense that we do not have to go through a range of taxation policies and other fiscal issues because our powers are somewhat stifled here, but we do set a Budget. To set a Budget, in some ways, is not that complicated for colleagues, whether you be in government or in the Opposition or whatever stance you may take in this place, because, basically, you have £19·3 billion to spend.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.”
“I have been sitting for the past two or three hours listening to the Opposition tell us what the Executive are not doing. Here is an opportunity for you: what would the Opposition do on that point? I am intrigued.”
“They have to complement each other for them to work and be useful. As I said earlier, I want the multi-year Budget to be transformational and used in a strategic way rather than be a one-year Budget that is multiplied by three.”
“The Budget sustainability team in the Department of Finance is engaging and working with other Departments on the development of each Department's sustainability plan.”
“It is another good example of how NISRA is assisting Departments beyond my own in detailing how and why we deliver public policy and assessing what impact, positive and negative, it may have on citizens. NISRA is engaging with the Department of Education to conduct a childcare survey of households, which is the first of its kind here. The survey will play a critical role in providing the evidence base on childcare usage and costs. The childcare survey findings will provide a valuable picture of childcare usage across the whole population that had not been available.”
“As stated earlier, we are providing £55 million to childcare this year. That is more than double the support that was provided last year and allowed the Education Minister to make his announcement last week. The number of children who will benefit from the discount is estimated to increase by 60%, from 15,000 to approximately 24,000. That support will mean a tangible change in people's lives as a result of the Executive's Budget.”
“I certainly hope that that will be the case.”
“I do not have all the details in front of me, but we plan to move forward with that policy and legislation. I will keep the Member informed.”
“It certainly is. One of the advantages of this place is that there is an opportunity for the public to have direct interaction with MLAs, Ministers and others at places like the show. I spent a bit of time at the Land and Property Services (LPS) stall, which provided information to guests on how to get help with their rates, particularly through lone pensioner schemes and other schemes. There was fantastic feedback from the staff on that stall on the interaction that they had with the public and how they were able to support members of the public who thought that they were not entitled to support. That chance to talk to somebody from LPS proved to those people that they or their family members were entitled to support. It was a great opportunity for the Executive and others to engage with the general public.”
“I had the opportunity to visit the show last week. It was a great spectacle and great entertainment, and the weather added to it. <BR /> <BR />The 2025-26 Budget supports agriculture, agrienvironment, fisheries and rural development with ring-fenced funding of £332·5 million, which recognises the importance of the sector to our economy and local farming communities. In line with our commitment on climate change, there is also a capital allocation of £12·3 million for the just transition programme. The Budget sets out a direction of travel that shows that the Executive are prepared to use their limited resources to do what matters most.”
“I am content at this stage that Stonewall remain part of a broader range of organisations that provide training and support to the Civil Service. I have answered that question numerous times, both verbally in the Chamber and in writing, and my position remains the same.”
“I was not aware of that. The Member will appreciate that an organisation's being referred to a body is not the same as an organisation's being found guilty of wrongdoing by a body. If there is to be a report, I look forward to reading it.”
“NISRA is ideally placed to assist the Department for the Economy, and other Departments, in collecting and understanding data in a timely fashion. That will ensure that our policies and procedures are targeted in a timely fashion to respond to such data. Although we have, in a way, relied on ONS and others for that data, it is only right and proper that NISRA and the Department for the Economy work together, which has been happening, so that we have a more timely response. That will allow the Department for the Economy to get the facts and figures, and it will allow the rest of the Executive to understand how we should respond.”
“NISRA is working alongside the Department for the Economy to explore the development of improved productivity statistics. NISRA is in the process of setting up a new team to develop a suite of productivity metrics to facilitate greater understanding of business productivity and to provide policymakers with more timely data than is currently available from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).”
“At times, there is a danger that we gild such things, and that makes it very difficult to deliver public services.”
“If staff are given the opportunity to be trained so that they fully understand the paperwork in front of them, I believe that they will. Sometimes, the difficulty is finding the time and space in which to provide that training. <BR /> <BR />The changes mean that procuring goods and services of between £5,000 and £10,000 requires evidence of a price check of two prices. The threshold at which the tender must be advertised on the e-tender system has increased from £30,000 to £50,000, which eases things. <BR /> <BR />There are therefore opportunities. I want to make further changes to the procurement process. We always have to be mindful that we are spending public funds, and we have to have the right practices and processes in place to protect those public funds.”
“The increase in procurement control limits is about simplifying the process. Ministers, colleagues and MLAs will be aware that the issue of the process increasing costs in the public sector has been raised many times. There is too much red tape and bureaucracy in how we procure materials and other goods for our arm's-length bodies and services etc. The recent changes that were introduced are about simplifying that: lowering the level of paperwork required and ensuring that people who work in the sector fully understand how they can save money by using the procurement exercises in the fashion that we laid out.”
“That question is best posed to the Infrastructure Minister. All Ministers will bring forward five-year sustainability plans, as the Member will be aware, and we have the three-year spending plan and four-year capital budgets. Your question is best posed to the Minister for Infrastructure. All Ministers will have to look at their forward spending programme, because I want to see the three-year Budget as a transformational Budget, rather than being a case of simply dividing the Budget by three and moving forward. I want to see transformation being at the core of the three-year Budget. Those are my principles when I look at it. Questions about individual Ministers' responsibilities are best posed to them.”
“Let us get through the spending review, and then you and I, I am sure, will have many debates in the Chamber on, among other issues, the next phase of fiscal transition and the maturing of this institution in relation to its tax powers.”
“I thought that I had welcomed the fact that you were moving beyond partitionism. If I did not say that, that is what I meant to say. <BR /> <BR />You and I have this repetitive conversation every time we meet in the Chamber. I place this on the record so that it is clear: my focus is on getting the Department of Finance and the Executive through the spending review. It is the most significant fiscal event for, perhaps, five or 10 years. It is only right and proper that I use my energies and time in this period to steer us through the spending review. When I get us through it, I intend to look at fiscal devolution and at what powers should be devolved at each stage of that journey, because I believe that it will be a journey. It will not be like the Big Bang theory. It will be a journey.”
“As I said in my answer, it is vital that, when we provide training to our Civil Service colleagues, people with lived experience also provide that training. Stonewall and all other organisations will be treated the same way when it comes to bidding for funding etc. I will not discriminate against any group. We run an inclusive Civil Service, and it will remain that way.”
“The Civil Service is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to building a diverse and inclusive Civil Service that reflects the society that we serve. Learning and development for the Civil Service is provided through various sources, including external groups identified as subject matter experts and corporate memberships aligned to section 75 groups. It is appropriate to adopt an approach that ensures that learning and development resources for the Civil Service include subject matter expertise and/or lived experience insight. Each public body has its own arrangements for training provision to address the learning needs of its organisation.”
“Between June monitoring and the Budget this year, we will increase our childcare and early years strategy funding to £50 million, doubling it from last year. That is a significant strategic move and investment by the Executive. We have also committed to ensuring that £5 million will go on top of that as part of the June monitoring round, which means that the Executive have allocated a total of £55 million towards the early years strategy and childcare this year.”
“The Executive decided to use the allocations of around £146 million that came from Barnett consequentials in relation to National Insurance contributions more strategically than simply salami-slicing them and handing them out to Departments. For instance, the £50 million that went to Health to add up to the £215 million to tackle waiting lists and for elective care centres is attributable to that funding. Funding for Lough Neagh and for skills etc is attributable to it. Departments then received an allocation beyond that. How Departments use that allocation is a matter for them. They are best placed to report on how they used it and how it helped to alleviate National Insurance contributions pressures. I am not suggesting that the funding available will support Departments in full, but the decisions are theirs.”
“It also includes general allocations to help Departments address the increase in employers' National Insurance contributions.”
“The deadline for departmental June monitoring returns is Thursday 5 June 2025, with Executive consideration expected by mid-to-late June. The Barnett consequentials confirmed in the Chancellor's spring statement, combined with confirmed Barnett consequentials in respect of employers' National Insurance contributions, have resulted in £158·5 million resource DEL and £2·4 million capital DEL being available in June monitoring. The Executive agreed how that funding would be allocated as part of the Budget, and the allocations have been presented in the final Budget 2025-26 as indicative June monitoring allocations. That includes allocations to support Programme for Government priorities including childcare, waiting lists, special educational needs, making communities safer and Lough Neagh.”
“Those who thought that Brexit was a good idea eight years ago — nine years ago now — should have had long enough to reflect that it was not such a good idea. I have not seen the detail of the agreement between the British Government and the EU this morning, but perhaps in it is further easement of the barriers that were put in place by the decision of eight years ago. I do not want to see barriers and borders for business; I want to see a free flow of business across this island, across these islands and beyond. That is a good way of doing business. Let us see the implications of this morning's deal between the British Government and the EU and what our next move should be.”
“<BR /> <BR />I have shared the report with my Executive colleagues so that, in any engagement or other direct dealings that they have with businesses in their policy areas, they can understand the challenges that those businesses face. It is worth noting that, through our rate relief schemes, we already offer business a quarter of a million pounds in rate relief annually. The Executive are playing their part in this regard.”
“The report is important academic research to show to the Treasury, because it shows the differences between here and the other regions that the Treasury has responsibility for and highlights once again the fact that, when they make decisions in Whitehall about this place, they need either to take into account the implications for this place or to allow us to make those decisions. That is first and foremost. To the suggestion that, as the only action, "All they have done is post it off to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury", I say that the decisions were made in Whitehall, so the implications are required to be highlighted there.”
“I have shared a copy of the report with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and, when we met on 24 April, impressed on him the need for support or mitigations to be put in place to ease the strains of the impacts of the National Insurance contribution changes. I also highlighted the disparity in VAT and the negative implications for businesses, especially hospitality businesses, that operate near the border. I want to see a reduction in VAT to enable our hospitality sector to compete on a level playing field in the all-island economy. I have urged the Chief Secretary to take urgent action to address those issues in the June spending review.”
“The independent report by the Ulster University Economic Policy Centre published by my Department on 6 May provides an important evidence base to highlight the detrimental impact that decisions that are taken in Westminster are having on our business, community and voluntary sectors, as well as our public finances. The report sets out that there are many factors that make up the cost of doing business, including the costs of labour, energy, property and transport. However, one of the main areas of concern highlighted by employers across sectors has been the impact of the changes in employers' National Insurance contributions that came into effect in April.”
“As I said to Mr Bradley, we are reviewing the current estate to make sure that it is cleaner and greener and meets the needs of the workforce in the delivery of public services for the modern era. As part of that, I want to ensure that regional balance is taken into account.”
“One of the, perhaps, unintended consequences of the new policy on allowing staff to work from home or from different locations has been ensuring that more regional balance has been facilitated, as staff work closer to home or from home, meaning that spending and investment take place closer to home than they did previously. Six Connect2 hubs were opened in August 2022, allowing staff to work remotely at six regional locations — Ballykelly, Ballymena, Bangor, Craigavon, Downpatrick and Omagh — as an occasional alternative to working from home or in their designated office. We continue to work through the location of our buildings to make sure that they are best placed for their best use.”
“I do not wish to pre-empt the review that I mentioned in my answer, which will take place over the next 18 months. Once that review is complete, I will ensure that the Member receives confirmation of the plans.”
“I have, however, been advised that the building is underoccupied, and a review of the Civil Service’s accommodation needs in the area will be undertaken over the next 18 months. My officials are consulting the Departments that occupy that building to collect information and get a better understanding of their accommodation needs. Following that, we will engage further with Departments to consider how best to address their current and future requirements. Consultation with trade union representatives will, of course, be carried out as that work progresses.”
“My Department is assessing its entire accommodation requirement as part of the Civil Service estate. The implementation of the Civil Service hybrid working policy in 2021 has significantly changed how the Civil Service uses its estate and has provided opportunities to progress a leaner, greener, modern estate suited to the needs of the Civil Service in delivering today’s public services. It is important that we have a modern, fit-for-purpose and right-sized office estate that is a welcoming environment for people to work collaboratively. <BR /> <BR />The first stage in the strategy aims to reduce our in-scope footprint by 40% by 2028 through consolidating the office estate and divesting ourselves of surplus properties. County Hall, Coleraine, was not included in the first-stage plans.”
“It is up to each Department to do an audit of the services that it brings in from the community and voluntary sector and of how they might be impacted on by the loss of the funding. However, I emphasise that I am not suggesting that we will lose the funding; we do not have clarity at the moment, ahead of the spending review. The quicker that clarity and the funding come forward, the sooner Departments and the community and voluntary sector will be able to sit down together to work out a programme for the remaining period.”
“It is imperative that the British Government properly engage on the matter. The Executive have given them a paper on what, we believe, the way forward should be. That is an agreed position around the Executive table. As I said, I have raised the matter with Treasury, directly with the Minister for Housing and Planning and with the Deputy Prime Minister, reflecting the importance that I place on the matter. I am somewhat disappointed by the lack of engagement that I have had back on the matter and hope that the Government will live up to the commitment in their manifesto to devolve the powers back to devolved institutions such as ours. I also hope that they properly fund the schemes, moving forward. We saw the previous Government put in place a scheme that was significantly underfunded compared with what the European Union had provided.”
“I hope that the funding envelope will be satisfactory and will enable the community and voluntary sector to carry out the important work that it does here.”
“I met representatives of the community and voluntary sector a number of weeks ago on that very matter and discussed the challenges that the sector faces. The situation is far from ideal. We require clarity. It seems as though that is a standard answer to every question, but I do not expect any clarity from any Department in Whitehall ahead of the spending review. The Treasury has almost gone into lockdown in terms of its deliberations and what it is doing. Departments in Whitehall are waiting on decisions from the Treasury. None of those decisions will be announced ahead of 11 June. I hope that clarity will be brought to that matter and a whole lot of others on 11 June, and that we will then be able to give certainty to the local community and voluntary sector on the way forward.”
“It is unlikely that we will have clarity on funding post 2026 before the spending review in June. Clearly, the longer that we are left without clarity, the more difficult that it will be to deliver an effective spending programme. That is an unacceptable position. My officials are working closely and collaboratively with other Departments and the community and voluntary sector to gather evidence in order to inform the development of any potential successor funding. That will help us to move as quickly and effectively as possible, once we have the required clarity from Whitehall.”
“I have written to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury directly and jointly with my counterparts in Scotland and Wales about EU replacement funding beyond 2025. The issue has been a central point of discussion in my meetings with the Treasury. I have also written to other British Government Ministers about the matter and discussed it with them and have sent the agreed Executive position paper on successor funding to the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner. The Shared Prosperity Fund, which is the successor to the European social fund and European regional development fund, will be delivered by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in 2025-26. That is intended to be a transition year to provide time for a successor programme to be developed.”
“I have had no discussions with the Infrastructure Minister about a new funding model for NI Water, but I am conscious that she has responded to a number of debates and questions about that matter in the Assembly.”
“DFI's resource budget outcome of £638·2 million for 2025-26 is an increase of £78·7 million — a 14% increase — from its opening 2024-25 resource budget. That allocation should enable the Department to meet its highest priority measures and essential services. The Department's 2025-26 capital outcome is £917 million, representing some 37·5% of the total capital allocated to Departments. That reflects the important role that infrastructure has in our society. The capital budget outcome will enable some key schemes to progress, including the A5, the A1 and essential investment in water and waste water treatment works.”
“I am delighted that the Member is taking more of an interest in Southern politics. I suspect that his party is moving beyond its partitionist approach; it is good to see it. If I had a €12 billion surplus — I think that is how much it is — in my Budget, I would expect the Member to stand in the Chamber and call on me to do exactly what my colleague did in Leinster House last week. I do not have a €12 billion surplus in my Budget. As I said in my response, the Executive have now published their Programme for Government. The Assembly is voting on the Budget today. We hope to have the ISNI published soon. In the autumn, I will bring to the Executive a three-year Budget and a four-year capital Budget, which will be an opportunity for us to plan our infrastructure across a whole range of areas.”
“<BR /> <BR />Multi-year Budgets will not solve the issues that the Executive face, but they will allow a more strategic and long-term roadmap to be set out. That will help Departments and stakeholders to plan accordingly. The Executive's Programme for Government, along with the investment strategy (ISNI), which I hope will be finalised soon, are indicative of the Executive's aim to plan on a longer-term and more strategic basis.”
“It is for the Department of Infrastructure to determine NI Water's funding within the budget envelope that the Executive agreed for the Department. My intention is that 2025-26 will be the last single-year Executive Budget. The multi-year spending review, which will be announced by the Chancellor in June, will set resource budgets for three years and capital budgets for four years, with a commitment to hold a spending review every two years. That will provide a basis to build our longer-term trajectory for departmental spending. I will make recommendations to the Executive on a multi-year Budget to align with the spending review period. That will involve looking at the entirety of the public spending profile and considering that in the context of the priorities in the Programme for Government.”
“It is not an issue that immediately jumps to mind as one that has been raised with me by officials. It is a matter that I will take under further consideration, and I have no doubt that the Member will raise it in the Committee's considerations. As I said in response to the previous question, we do not want to place barriers in the way of people. We want to make sure that it is a compassionate scheme that captures everyone, and which allows those who wish to obtain a certificate to do so.”