Motion: Cost of Division
‘That this Assembly notes with concern the financial and economic impact of continued division in Northern Ireland; calls for the Executive to conduct formal audits of their budgets and publish their assessment of the impact of societal division; and further all Departments to actively encourage de-segregation and promote cohesion, sharing and integration within their policies and spending plans.’
[Mr C Lyttle, Mrs J Cochrane Mr S Dickson]
Chris Lyttle MLA said: “Given the scale of the current public finance crisis, it is shocking that all Government budgets have not sought to make savings based on tackling the cost of division.
“It is a step forward that the Assembly has voted to support the Alliance proposals for all Executive departments to tackle the cost of maintaining a divided society. We now need to see every Minister carry out audits of their budgets to free resources for vital front line services.
“It is shocking that so much money is spent on maintaining a divided society, with an independent report estimating the cost to be £1.5billion a year. Money spent on division could have been spent on other services. If we were able to save even a small proportion of this, we could provide extra funding for our schools, colleges, hospitals and police.
“The cost of division is one of the biggest challenges facing Northern Ireland. It is time that we tackled this issue and delivered money for our public finances and improve our society.”
ENDS