‘Kennedy using 0.6% Budget Reduction to score political points’ – Irwin

Newry & Armagh DUP Assemblyman William Irwin MLA has echoed the comments of Finance Minister Simon Hamilton who criticised Minister Kennedy following his comments on the budget allocated to his Department of Regional Development.

DUP MLA William Irwin

Irwin said, “Once again I am left bemused by Mr Kennedy’s apparent inability to understand his brief and cut his cloth to suit his allocated budget.

“Mr Kennedy has again given the public a doomsday scenario of the street lights being turned out and roads deteriorating as an attempt to score political points over a budget allocation that he agreed to as a member of the Stormont Executive.

“It must not be forgotten that the Executive’s spending power has been slashed by over £1 billion by cuts imposed by the Conservatives and we recall it was Danny Kennedy who fought the last general election alongside and with the help of the Conservatives,” he continued.

“I fully agree with my colleague Simon Hamilton when he rightly highlights the fact the Department for Regional Development has the fourth best budget settlement of all of the 12 departments. Minister Kennedy’s slice of the pie is down by 0.6% and in the current expenditure this is massively better than DCAL, DOE and DSD.

“It is obvious that all Departments are adjusting to budgetary pressures and I know my colleagues in DUP held Ministries are knuckling down and getting on with the job.

Irwin added, “Instead of grumbling, Danny Kennedy needs to get down to the job of allocating his budget within his department, prioritising the services people need and expect.”

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Posted by Newry Times News on Mar 5 2015. Filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry