Stormont agrees funding for £290m post-Covid plan

The Northern Ireland Executive has agreed funding for a £290m plan to help the economy recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The details were announced by Finance Minister Conor Murphy as part of the budget for the new financial year.

Additional money has become available since the draft budget was presented.

But Mr Murphy warned that when one-off Covid funding is excluded, most departments will see their core budget fall in real terms.

He said: "Choices will have to be made, public services will have to be prioritised."

The final budget was approved on Thursday after a row between DUP and Sinn Féin over its delay.

Mr Murphy had claimed he had been blocked by First Minister Arlene Foster from presenting it.

The economic recovery plan was first proposed by the Economy Minister Diane Dodds in February, though at that time its funding had not been confirmed.

Half of the money, £145m, has been earmarked for a High Street voucher scheme.

Mr Murphy said: "Covid has presented massive challenges but the vaccination programme has been hugely successful and we hope we can soon move towards economic recovery.

"I have allocated significant funding for an economic stimulus and have also prioritised funding to support young people given the huge impact that Covid has had on their wellbeing."

There is £27m for job creation schemes on top of the £290m for the Department for the Economy.

The bulk of that £27m will be allocated to a Northern Ireland version of the Kickstart scheme to be run by the Department for Communities.

Kickstart provides funding to employers to create job placements for 16-to-24 year olds on Universal Credit.

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey welcomed the funding and said it aligned with her "ongoing commitment to supporting young people at risk of long-term unemployment".

Mr Murphy has also guaranteed that money will be made available for the Troubles victims pension this financial year.

Talks between the Executive and the UK government about how the costs should be shared are continuing but Mr Murphy said money would be available whatever the outcome.

The Health and Social Care service will account for almost half of day to day spending this year, just under £6.5bn.

A further £100m of Covid funding is being held in reserve for health spending.

On Wednesday, Mr Murphy told MLAs the delayed budget could affect the ability of departments to make financial plans.

The DUP said it was "a failure of no one but the Sinn Féin finance minister", adding there was a lack of clarity over funding for victims' payments - a suggestion Mr Murphy strongly rejected.

Mr Murphy presented a draft budget to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 18 January, which was then open for public consultation until 25 February.

In his letter, he said he had then circulated a paper to executive ministers on 15 March setting out a final budget that contained a number of "minor adjustments".

"Although the paper has been agreed by the deputy first minister, the first minister has not agreed to the paper being tabled for executive consideration," he continued.

Mr Murphy said a failure to agree the final budget could result in delays to the extension of Covid support funding for businesses.