NI Assembly to publish its budget before Westminster

Finance Minister Conor Murphy said spending plans would be announced before 11 March

The Northern Ireland Executive will publish a budget before 11 March, Finance Minister Conor Murphy has said.

The Westminster government will reveal its budget on that date.

Mr Murphy said that any new money allocated to Northern Ireland by the chancellor will then be accounted for in a reallocation exercise.

He said it would be a one-year budget before Stormont moves to multi-year budgeting.

Earlier this month, Mr Murphy criticised the Westminster government over the financial package allocated to Northern Ireland after the restoration of devolution.

Westminster allocated an extra £1bn to the Northern Ireland Executive to support a new Stormont deal which restored power-sharing after a three-year suspension.

A further £1bn was to be added to Stormont's budget as an automatic result of spending plans for the entire UK.

At the time, Secretary of State Julian Smith said it was the "biggest injection of new money in Northern Ireland in well over a decade".

But Mr Murphy claimed the package would do nothing to fix problems with health and education and would keep Northern Ireland in an "austerity trap".

On Wednesday, Stormont's Education Minister Peter Weir said the education system in Northern Ireland needs up to £400m more funding a year.