First Minister and deputy First Minister meet Prime Minister to press for urgent action on budget

First Minister Michelle O'Neill and deputy first Minister Emma Little-Pengelly have met with new Prime Minister Andy Burnham to press for urgent action on the Executive's financial pressures and a fair and sustainable funding settlement for Northern Ireland.

This follows the Executive's repeated calls for early engagement to address the mounting financial pressures facing Northern Ireland. 

First Minister Michelle O'Neill said: The challenges facing our public services are too serious for any further delays and we raised these issues with the Prime Minister directly. We are not funded on the same basis as Scotland and Wales, and that cannot continue. People here should not be expected to accept poorer public services because of a funding system that fails to recognise our needs.

We need a fair funding settlement that allows us to invest in and transform public services, while decisions on British Government funding streams must respect devolution and provide the flexibility needed to deliver what works best for people here.

What matters now is action, and we will continue to engage with the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Treasury until we secure the fair funding settlement that the people here deserve.

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said: We had a constructive meeting with the Prime Minister and welcome the positive discussion around how best to work together to deal with these issues and to do so urgently.

We have been very clear that the Executive needs a sustainable financial settlement which allows us to properly plan and invest in public services for the people of Northern Ireland.

It was also useful to raise a number of other issues with the PM such as the need for a clear plan for economic growth across the UK, how there can be no further delay in resolving outstanding issues around Housing Executive borrowing powers, access to the National Wealth Fund and finding a resolution to the Funding of Victims' payments.

We will continue to work constructively with the Prime Minister, Chancellor and Treasury and remain committed to securing a sustainable funding position for Northern Ireland so that we can deliver the real change we want to see.