Durkan reallocates £33 million within Executive

Stormont Minister of Finance and Personnel, Mark Durkan has announced the immediate re-allocation of £33 million within Executive Departments.

Addressing the Assembly on Monday November 12 Mr Durkan said: “We face major problems in our schools, in our hospitals and in many of our other important public services. We also have a long way to go in tackling the equality agenda, reducing levels of deprivation throughout the community and making a difference to the quality of life of all our people: that will be the true test of devolution.”

While a total of £66.2 million is available, through savings within Departments and careful budgeting approximately half will now be re-allocated. The Minister spoke of the priorities agreed in the Draft Budget for 2002-2003, which was presented to the Assembly on the 25 September, where Ministers had decided that health, education and roads should be the main focus.

"With the limited resources available to us we have sought to relieve the most immediate pressures while at the same time providing some of the means for tackling the longer-term weaknesses in our infrastructure and the shortfalls in our major spending programmes."

Outlining the immediate re-allocations, the Minister said that the Health Service has been a major beneficiary this time round. Some £8 million is being allocated to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety now, to address new costs associated with further pay pressures arising from contractual, legal and re-grading issues. Funding is also being provided to replace medical equipment at the Royal Group of Hospital’s surgery unit and to provide two linear accelerators at Belvoir. This will replace equipment, which is currently past its normal life expectancy, and reduce waiting lists and times for people waiting for cancer treatment.

Other beneficiaries include the Department of Education, which is set to receive funding of some £3.4 million is provided for special schools and to ensure the commitment is met to deliver Classroom 2000.

Additional allocations have been agreed for the Department for Employment and Learning of some £10 million to meet Departmental pressures, including substantial provision to meet contractual commitments for Worktrack and to respond to unexpected demand for Individual Learning Accounts.

Concluding his statement to the assembly Mr Durkan said: “Inevitably we must face up to the hard choices that lie ahead and take the tough and unavoidable decisions that confront us – but that is the very essence of government.

“The Executive will not shirk this responsibility, and by taking the necessary decisions, we remain determined to make a difference to the way our public services perform. As Finance Minister, I am for public services, and want to see improvement and development for the good of all who need and depend on them.” (AMcE)