Northern Ireland draft budget scrapped following FM’s resignation
Reading time: 1 minute
Conor Murphy
Northern Ireland’s draft budget, which included controversial cuts to justice funding, has effectively been scrapped in the absence of a first minister and deputy first minister.
Finance minister Conor Murphy yesterday told MLAs that legal advice from the Departmental Solicitor’s Office (DSO) and the Attorney General was “clear that the budget must be agreed by the Executive”.
He said the ongoing consultation on the draft budget would be paused as there was now “no prospect of a budget in this mandate”, and it would be up to “a new Executive with new ministers” to agree a budget.
The Department of Justice was the only Executive department facing cuts in the draft budget for 2022-25.
The Law Society of Northern Ireland and The Bar of Northern Ireland warned last week that the cuts would create “legal aid deserts” with access to justice severely curtailed or completely non-existent in many local towns.
Share this article:
Subscribe to our newsletter to not miss articles like this one:
SUBSCRIBE
