Money raising plans are attempt to pressure DUP, Sinn Féin says

Sinn Féin has accused the government of using money raising proposals to apply pressure on the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to return to power-sharing.

On Wednesday, more than 40 potential measures to deal with the ongoing financial crisis were published.

They included parents potentially having to pay more for school dinners and home-to-school transport.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the revenue raising plans put added financial burdens on families.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris asked officials to draw up the measures in June, but it would be up to a future executive to implement any of them.

There is currently no executive at Stormont after the DUP withdrew in February 2022 in protest against post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland.

Following Thursday's meetings, Mr Heaton-Harris said Northern Ireland's finances were "not on a sustainable trajectory".

"For NI to balance the books and have a prosperous future that requires fiscal responsibility with public spending," he continued.

"The UK Government has given £7bn in additional funding to NI since 2014 on top of the Barnett-based block grant and we stand ready to continue supporting a restored executive.

"That's why we are looking at improvements to NI's finances, including revenue raising measures."

After meeting the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service on Thursday, Caoimhe Archibald of Sinn Féin said the plans would harm people.

"These are measures that are punitive and would punish the public more and there's obviously an ideological agenda there," she said.

"It's very clear it's being done in an attempt to put pressure on the DUP, but what it's actually doing is putting anxiety on people who are worried already."

Sir Jeffrey said his party made clear to Mr Heaton-Harris that revenue raising should be left to an incoming executive.

"We will look at our ability to fund public services, but the problem is not the need to find new fiscal measures to punish the people of Northern Ireland," he added.

"The idea that Northern Ireland is excessively funded is a myth - we have a significant shortfall."

Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said asking the public to "pay more for less" was not a solution.

But she said parties would only be able to make the case for additional funding and reform once an executive is restored.

Ulster Unionist Party assembly member Mike Nesbitt said he had seen no detail of the proposals and that Northern Ireland's parties had not proposed any of the initiatives.

Asked if it was a tactic to apply pressure on the DUP to end its Stormont boycott, he said: "I'm not in the mind of the secretary of state but it seems to me if you're going to try and use a tactic to bully people, it won't work in this country."

The Social Democratic and Labour Party was not at the talks as it will not form part of any reformed Stormont Executive.

More than 40 revenue raising proposals across eight Stormont departments were put to political parties on Thursday.

Introducing prescription fees, charging for domiciliary care and scrapping plans for free hospital parking for patients, staff and visitors were proposed by health officials.

Higher court fees and new charges for Bovine TB testing have also been suggested.

Meanwhile, Sir Jeffrey described comments made by Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar last week as unhelpful.

He also accused Westminster of a lack of co-operation.

Sir Jeffrey said there was "still some way to go" in talks with the government relating to the Protocol.

"When the Irish government talk about need to prepare for plan B, I think they should focus on getting plan A sorted out instead of failure," he said.