No resolution reached yet between Stormont and secretary of state, says O'Neill

No resolution has been reached yet in negotiations between executive parties and the secretary of state, First Minister Michelle O'Neill has said.

Speaking after a series of one-to-one meetings with Sir Chris Bryant, O'Neill said there was still "no white smoke".

She said that while there may be things dividing the executive, her party would persist in trying to get a budget deal done that allows public sector pay awards to be made for this year.

The secretary of state is understood to have presented a set of conditions, including revenue raising, to be attached to any potential deal on a Stormont budget.

O'Neill was joined by Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald, Finance Minister John O'Dowd and Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald.

Asked about the prospect of conditions being attached to a budget including asking the executive to commit to a further £200m in revenue raising over the next two years, McDonald said taxpayers already pay for public services.

"If you listened to the secretary of state you'd never know people paid their way here... I'd remind the government even within the current arrangement of power-sharing fiscal powers are extremely limited."

O'Neill said she was getting "impatient" with the government and that she would take no lectures from it about managing finances.

Bryant says executive should improve 'discipline'

Seven months into this financial year the Northern Ireland Executive has still not agreed a budget.

Stormont ministers argue the UK's devolution funding formula no longer delivers enough for them to balance their books.

The government had offered them an additional £525m this year, but they said it still left significant gaps in managing their spending pressures, particularly delivery of pay awards for public sector workers.

It is not clear what the shape of a final budget agreement could look like, with some parties insisting there is still scope to "reprofile" some of the financial package.

Bryant's conditions are believed to include the executive committing to £200m in additional revenue raising in 2027/28 and 2028/29.

He has also asked that they should improve "discipline" around promises and delivery of pay parity to public sector workers in Northern Ireland.

Speaking before the meetings, Burrows said the UUP wanted to strike a budget but would be telling the secretary of state Northern Ireland needs better governance.

His UUP colleague Robbie Butler said he believed negotiations were at a "pinch point".

As health minister, he said that his focus was on ensuring health workers get their long-awaited pay rises.

The DUP contingent included its executive ministers as well as party leader Gavin Robinson and deputy leader Michelle McIlveen.

The DUP did not make any remarks to the media on their way in.

Talks between the government and the executive parties have been taking place for several months now , but earlier this week O'Dowd warned that a "crunch point" is approaching.

On Tuesday, the executive met again, with O'Dowd saying afterwards that he planned to present a series of options to his ministerial colleagues in the days ahead about a way forward.

He did not divulge what those may be, but the government has already said no to a request from the executive to allow a larger chunk of the money in the three-year offer to be spent this year, referred to as "front-loading".

O'Dowd said all ministers needed to remain focused on the task at hand and that he wanted to ensure the prospect of strike action in the health sector was avoided.

What happens in the absence of a budget?

Without an agreed budget, departments face operating on emergency spending restricted to 95% of the prior year, with warnings that funds could run out by January.

The secretary of state has also warned that a cost-of-living £100 payment cannot be made to households in Northern Ireland until an executive budget is agreed .

That came after the government announced its first budget under Andy Burnham last week, with Northern Ireland getting an additional £270m for public services as a result, of which £131m can be used this year.

Sir Chris has said that he is exploring contingency measures to allow him to pass a budget bill at Westminster, in the event that a deal cannot be reached to do so at Stormont.

What have other executive ministers said?

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said discussions to date had been "constructive" and that the executive was in a better position now than when O'Dowd published a draft budget for consideration back in January.

"The DUP rejected that - we knew it would decimate public services but there is still a significant gap, especially in terms of public sector pay," she said.

"I do not believe in asking for more money and not playing our part as regards to transformation of services but everyone agrees that takes time."

While Alliance's Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir said it is now "make your mind up time" for the executive.

"This needs to be resolved not in weeks or months, but days. We need to come to a final conclusion and give certainty to people who deserve proper pay but also in terms of investment in public services we need to get this done," he added.

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