Stormont ministers have finally agreed a proposed programme for government.
Ministers signed off on the delayed blueprint when they met at Stormont Castle on Thursday morning.
It will not be officially published until Monday as protocol dictates that it should be presented to MLAs in the Assembly first.
The programme for government will set out the priorities for the devolved powersharing Executive for the remaining two-and-a-half years of the Assembly term.
First Minister and Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill, deputy First Minister and DUP MLA Emma Little-Pengelly, Justice Minister and Alliance Party leader Naomi Long and Health Minister and UUP leader-elect Mike Nesbitt spoke to reporters at a press conference on Thursday following the agreement.
When asked why it had taken so long to get to this point, Ms O’Neill said she was proud of the Executive coming together “in a holistic way” to address the fact that public services in Northern Ireland are “at a crisis point”.
She said the four parties had done a lot of work over many areas but coming together to form a programme of government was “complex”.
Ms O’Neil said the government was content for the public to “judge us in terms of delivery”.
Ms Little-Pengelly said there would always be differences between parties but the programme was a piece of compromise that does not reflect the agenda of one particular faction.
We’ve identified our immediate priorities
Michelle O’Neill, First Minister
Asked whether there was a risk the programme was simply a “wish list”, Ms O’Neill said: “I think we all recognise that we are bringing forward a programme for government in a very difficult financial circumstance.
“We all equally recognise that since we have a new government in London, that Labour are continuing with a policy of austerity which makes it a very challenging environment for us all to operate, but as Naomi had indicated this is a very scalable programme for government.
“We’ve identified our immediate priorities. We’ve also laid the groundwork to do more things tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after so it’s very much about immediate priorities and then also what we can do tomorrow around health, education, justice, safer communities, particularly given the summer that we’ve been in.”
Ms O’Neill added: “None of us are naive, we know how challenging this is.”
She said the battle for additional finances is “top of our agenda”.
Ms Little-Pengelly said that despite the “difficult budget situation”, the programme aims to improve lives for people in Northern Ireland in meaningful ways.
The DUP politician said there are nine priorities within the programme for government at Stormont:
– To grow a globally competitive and sustainable economy.
– Deliver affordable childcare.
– Cut health waiting times.
– Ending violence against women and girls.
– Better support for children and young people with special educational needs.
– Provide more social, affordable and sustainable housing.
– Safer communities.
– Protect Lough Neagh and the environment.
– Reform and transformation of public services.
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