North - South v East - West Imbalance Highlighted
29 July 2011
Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“As a result of an Assembly Question I have established that the Northern Ireland Executive contributed £685,233 to the North South Ministerial Council in 2009 and a staggering £1,142,223 in 2010.
“The expenditure is all the more shocking when compared with the derisory funding received by the British-Irish Council. I have been informed that the indicative running costs of the Secretariat are £170,000 per annum of which Northern Ireland’s share will be £15,300.
“In spite of the fact that the BIC has eight member administrations expenditure on it will be almost 15 times less than on the North-South Ministerial Council in 2010.
“Prior to assuming the mantel of power the DUP repeatedly claimed that the imbalance between the North-South and East-West aspects of the Agreement was one of its major flaws and something which they would address.
“These facts tell a different story.
“The British-Irish Council is very much the poor relation of the North-South Ministerial Council having been starved of funds. How can anyone claim there is a balance between the two when the difference between their budgets is so vast? A Northern Ireland Executive which spends almost 75 times more on the NSMC than it does on the BIC is not one which is delivering for Unionism.”
Note to editors:
Mr Allister’s question and the reply received were as follows:
To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail the anticipated cost of the British Irish Council for 2011/12; and the annual cost of the secretariat of the North South Ministerial Council in the last two available years.
The Secretariat for the British-Irish Council (BIC) is currently provided jointly by the British and Irish Governments. No direct funding is given by the Northern Ireland Executive to the Council, although support is provided through the co-ordination function which OFMDFM staff exercises across all Northern Ireland Departments in respect of BIC activities, and through the participation of officials from other departments in its work streams.
The Northern Ireland Executive, together with the seven other member administrations, has agreed to fund a standing Secretariat which will be based in Edinburgh. The indicative running costs of the Secretariat are £170,000 per annum of which Northern Ireland’s share will be £15,300. This figure does not however include accommodation costs which will also be shared but which have yet to be determined pending further decisions to be taken by the Council.
In addition, the cost of BIC meetings will continue to be met by each host administration and it has also been agreed that member administrations, where possible, will each contribute staff on a rotating secondment basis, with each bearing the related salary costs for their own staff.
It is not possible at this time to provide information on the Executive's actual total financial contribution in the 2011/12 financial year as this will depend on the achievement of the target commencement date for the Secretariat of 1 January 2012.
The North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) Joint Secretariat is jointly funded by the Northern Ireland Executive and Irish Government. The cost of running the NSMC Joint Secretariat is published each year in the NSMC Annual Report. The annual cost for each of the last two available calendar years is:
2009 - £1,686,380, of which the NI Executive’s contribution was £685,233
2010 - £2,509,457, of which the NI Executive’s contribution was £1,142,223
