The Five Demands

Il Ministro delle Finanze Sammy Wilson chiama i suoi ‘colleghi’ al lavoro. E’ necessario che l’Esecutivo di Stormont giunga ad un bilancio provvisiorio entro gennaio 2011

“Abbiamo una grave responsabilità”, tuona Sammy Wilson.
“L’unica cosa che ho trovato, andando in giro a parlare con persone che lavorano nel settore sociale, nel volontariato, parlando con uomini d’affari, parlando con i presidenti degli enti a tutela della salute, parlando con i presidi delle scuole, è questa: tutto ciò che vogliono sapere è cosa accadrà ai loro bilanci del prossimo anno”.
“Ecco perché abbiamo bisogno di avere un bilancio pronto e dibattuto da presentare all’Assembly al più tardi entro gennaio. Ciò significa che l’Esecutivo deve concordare un bilancio entro le prossime 2 settimane, ottenuto attraverso il processo legale di consultazione e che arrivi sul tavolo dell’Assembly per la discussione e l’approvazione.
“Se non lo facciamo, saremo mancheremo al nostro dovere.
Il Ministro delle Finanze non escludo che alla fine il procedimento si concluda con un nulla di fatto ma quanto meno si potrà di aver lavorato per dare alla popolazione un barlume di quello che sarà il prossimo esercizio finanziario.
Esecutivo all’opera quindi, e in fretta.

A Stormont si discute di bilancio (Video)

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Call to agree provisional budget (Newsletter)
The Stormont Executive must agree a new provisional budget within two weeks or it will be failing in its duty, the Finance Minister has warned the Assembly.
Delays in producing a spending plan to accommodate the £4 billion-plus cuts imposed on Northern Ireland by the Treasury will plunge people into uncertainty ahead of the next financial year, Sammy Wilson said.
The minister urged his colleagues to work together during a specially convened assembly where a degree of consensus did emerge among the main parties on the way forward in the wake of last week’s spending review announcement by Chancellor George Osborne.
A joint Sinn Fein/SDLP motion voicing concern about the reductions was passed unanimously after all parties accepted DUP and Ulster Unionist amendments calling for a collective approach and stressing the need to agree a budget.
“We do have a grave responsibility,” said Mr Wilson.
“The one thing I have found as I have gone around speaking to people who work in the social sector, the voluntary sector, speaking to businessmen, speaking to the heads of (health) trusts, speaking to (school) boards of governors etc is this – they want to know what is going to happen to their budget next year.
“That is why we need to have a budget in place and debated and through this Assembly by January at the latest of this (financial) year. That means that the Executive have to agree a budget within the next couple of weeks, get it through the statutory process of consultation and then get it here on the floor of the Assembly for debate and for decision.
“If we don’t do that, we will be failing in our duty.
“I think that it is good that first of all we get the ideas from people but secondly they are quickly put in. Of course, the first stab at the budget might not be the one which is accepted but at least let’s get it out into the public so we can meet the deadline and give those who are going to be affected by these reductions good warning for the next financial year.”