He was speaking as severe financial pressures on the Northern Ireland Executive, particularly in delivering public services, have been highlighted. Mr Givan said if public sector pay commitments are to be met, that should be the starting point on how money is allocated to departments. Stormont departments’ budget allocation needs to be overhauled, Paul Givan has argued (PA)“I think we need to look at how we actually start the process of allocating funding, it can’t just be, last year department x spent the following, this year we’ll top it up by another 5%. “We need to look at the basis upon which we allocate funding. Last month he published a five-year budget strategy which included proposals such as reducing the number of schools in the region and reshaping special educational needs (Sen) support in mainstream schools.

Source: The Herald March 08, 2026 13:07 UTC