Chris Lyttle MLA said: “These cuts are despicable. We need to continue to oppose them and examine ways to minimise job losses. Pro-active preventative measures must be put in place by the Executive to save money in the long-term.
“Health is one of the biggest areas where savings can be made in this regard. Also, help for young people disengaged from mainstream services is essential to ensure they can maximise their potential.
“We need to take preventative measures to save money, protect jobs and services. We need to invest more in early years, home start and sure start schemes to ensure our children get the best start in life and can be as successful as possible in later life.
“We also need a strong and coherent skills strategy to ensure we deliver the workforce needed to allow our economy to grow and attract high-skill, high-value jobs here.
“If we took a pro-active approach on policy them we could avert problems and save cash down the line. To do this we need to abandon the rampant populism that has infected many parts of the Stormont Executive.”
ENDS