Stormont budget crisis: Leaders fail to agree on £300m spend

There is currently no functioning executive at Stormont

Stormont party leaders have failed to agree on how to allocate £300m to families struggling with energy bills.

At a meeting on Friday morning, leaders were briefed on the legal authority of the parties to allocate the money without a functioning executive.

Finance Minister Conor Murphy said he was advised the money could not be released without executive approval.

On Thursday evening, he renewed calls for the DUP to re-nominate a first minister so an executive can be formed.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said other options could be used to get help to those families who need it.

On Friday evening, Sir Jeffrey said he would not re-enter the executive until the protocol matter "is dealt with".

Addressing an anti-protocol rally in Crossgar he said: "If we continue to do business as usual, we'll be taken for granted."

Earlier on Friday, Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey had said all politicians want to "do the right thing" during a cost-of-living and fuel crisis.

Conor Murphy called on the DUP to renominate a first minister

"Each day we're seeing price rises with fuel and with oil for example," she told Good Morning Ulster.

Ms Hargey said the legal opinion is that there needs to be a functioning executive to release the £300m.

"I think that money should be directed in terms of dealing with that crisis that we're in now. It is affecting a broader group of people who have never, maybe, normally felt the pinch before in terms of their home heating, who are now really struggling to pay those bills.

Alliance leader Naomi Long said reforming the executive was the "cleanest and most effective route" and one "least open to legal challenge".

Meanwhile, Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Doug Beattie said he would "plead" with Sir Jeffrey to re-nominate a first minister "even in a limited capacity".

The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) is already exploring options at Stormont and Westminster to access the money without an executive in place.

It leader Colum Eastwood said private members legislation could be brought in to solve the issue.

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Despite the executive's absence, Stormont departments will still be funded in the new financial year.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson had been exploring other legal options to get the budget through

On Thursday, Sir Jeffrey suggested the money could be delivered through the rates system.

He called on the finance department to consider cutting rates bills to help households cope with the rising cost of living.

"I want to hear from the Department of Finance as we explore the options," Sir Jeffrey said.

"No one has put a specific proposal to me about how this money can be delivered. We need to decide how this money can be delivered to support households in Northern Ireland.

"Might it be through the rates system, that's what I'm putting forward as an idea."

A rollover budget will be managed by the senior official in the Department of Finance, a mechanism that has previously been used when the executive has collapsed.

However, it means a planned 10% increase for the Department of Health will not happen.