- author, John Campbell
- role, BBC News NI Economics and Business Editor
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The Ulster Unionist Party will vote against the Stormont budget, which is being debated in Parliament.
Speaking at Tuesday’s debate, he said the budget proposals “have the potential to cause serious and irreparable damage” to the health service.
Mr Swann, who is stepping down as health secretary to stand in the UK general election, said the Budget did not prioritise “the health of the nation”.
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) had called for the debate in Parliament to be postponed until after the budget reallocation process, scheduled for next month.
“It was always going to be a very difficult budget” for the administration, she said during Tuesday’s debate.
“For every pound we have to allocate to the day-to-day spending of public services, demands have tripled,” Mr Archibald added.
A Sinn Féin minister has criticised the Conservative government’s “austerity policies” but said recent negotiations with the UK Treasury could “allay” concerns about future funding levels for Northern Ireland.
Also during the debate, Matthew O’Toole of the Socialist Workers’ Party said the budget was “not a plan” for the future.
“There is no reason why this budget announcement could not be a more strategic and forward-looking set of priorities for the Executive in making decisions,” the Opposition Leader added.
How much money will each department receive?
The Department of Health received the largest proportion of day-to-day funding (£7.8bn).
The next largest recipients were the Department of Education (£2.9 billion) and the Department of Justice (£1.3 billion).
The health budget increased by 6.3 percent compared to the start of last year, but by the end of last year it was down 2.3 percent compared to the amount actually spent.
Mr Swann said Northern Ireland’s devolved authorities “must make the most of the resources we have and protect the most vulnerable”.
“That’s why I, and many patients and health care workers, took comfort from the official statements that the health of the public remains a priority, both before and after the administration is reinstated,” he said.
“I don’t think this budget will achieve that.”
Mr Swann said voting against the budget would be an admission of not following the ministerial code.
“I don’t take it lightly, but I have a much bigger responsibility to protect essential services,” he said.
Announcing the budget, DUP Deputy First Minister Emma Littlepengelly said she understood Mr Swann’s concerns but there were other important priorities that required funding, such as special educational needs.
The Chancellor will allocate a further £200 million in a reallocation exercise known as the monitoring round in June.
This will include funding carried over from last year, additional funding from Westminster, and the launch of a new “top-up” process to Stormont’s budget agreed with the UK Government.
UUP leader Doug Beattie wanted debate on the budget to be postponed until after the oversight round.
He said the proposed budget “could relieve some of the pressures that have been emphasized in the existing health care budget,” adding that it “doesn’t make sense for the administration and Congress to pass a budget that is almost certain to be changed within weeks.”
