The Northern Ireland Secretary has said he is “bored” with the “sticking plaster” approach to Stormont’s finance problems.
Sir Chris Bryant said he is in talks with parties and aiming to “get to a place where we have a multi-year budget”.
The power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland is still to agree a budget for the current financial year, with departments operating on contingency budgets since April.
Stormont ministers signed a collective letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham calling for “a fair funding envelope” saying the current level of finance from London “does not provide a sufficient basis to fund public services” in the region.
Finance Minister John O’Dowd, senator Conor Murphy and Minister for the Economy Caoimhe Archibald met Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant (Oliver McVeigh/PA)
In January this year, Sinn Féin Finance Minister John O’Dowd unveiled a draft three-year budget but it was not agreed by other executive parties, highlighting “massive impacts” to public services with available funding.
The UK Treasury has stepped in multiple times in the past to provide one-off payments or loans to Stormont to overcome budgetary issues, most recently with a £400 million reserve claim to be repaid over three years.
Asked by reporters in Dublin if Mr Burnham would be visiting Northern Ireland with news of additional financial support for Stormont, Sir Chris said: “We need to make sure that Stormont gets to a budget, a settled budget,
“Not just for this year, because I’m bored with this kind of sticking plaster issue of, we pour a little bit more cash in every year when there are troubles – we need to get to a several-year settlement.
“I’m going to be having discussions with people later on this week and then again next week to get to a place where we have a multi-year budget and we sort out the financial pressures that the Stormont government has got.”
He later said: “I think it would be a good idea if Northern Ireland were to look at some self-help, as it were, in terms of revenue-raising as well.
“I’m a Welsh MP. My constituency is in the South Wales valleys and we have to do quite a lot of raising our own revenue in Wales, and those are some of the issues that I want to talk through with the Executive.
“I believe in devolution. I think decisions are best made by those closest to those who are most affected by those decisions, but a degree of financial discipline is important in Northern Ireland, as it is anywhere else.
“But, also, where there are real significant financial pressures in the Northern Ireland budget, I do want to be able to come and help.”