Write-off of £560m ‘debt’ leaves Stormont on more stable footing, says O’Dowd

Stormont is now on a more stable financial footing than when devolution returned following confirmation that a Treasury “debt” of around £560 million has been written off, the Finance minister has said.

A Treasury offer to set aside the £559 million was conditional on the Executive delivering a balanced budget in the last financial year.

The money had been provided by the last Conservative UK government to plug a previous hole in the Stormont Executive’s finances.

Finance minister John O’Dowd told the Assembly on Monday that, subject to final checks on the budget returns for 2024/25, the Treasury had confirmed the money did not have to be paid back.

Mr O’Dowd said he would not have characterised the sum as a “debt” – a reference to the contention by Stormont ministers that the previous shortfall was caused by systemic underfunding of Northern Ireland by the UK government.

“Our returns show that we now have a stable budget, in the sense that we have cleared what should never have been a debt,” the minister told MLAs.

“So we are sustainable in that sense, and we’ve made the necessary decisions to be sustainable, but I will still make the case that this Executive needs more funding for its public funding services.”

He added: “I think we are – provided we still (have)… challenging times ahead of us – we are in a more financially stable position than we were at the restoration of the institutions.”