David Ford said: “Following Wednesday’s Executive meeting I said that Thursday would be a test of whether ministers were prepared to do the job that voters elected them to do. While an agreement was reached between the DUP and Sinn Fein, yet again they have simply agreed to push the big decisions further down the line.
“They still haven’t resolved the issue of welfare reform and they continue to protect the Department of Education on the basis of a ‘one for me, one for you’ carve up. Worst of all, they have now agreed to pile an extra £100million debt onto next year’s budget, but no agreement to make the kind of reforms that will be needed to manage that budget. Rather than moving us forward, today’s farcical decision-making has put us in deeper trouble still.
“This is the kind of money management that government advises its citizens to avoid – hiding your head in the sand, refusing to accept the reality of where you are, and borrowing on one credit card to pay off another. It’s irresponsible, it’s bad government, and it will only make matters worse in the long term.”
ENDS