The North's Finance Minister, Peter Robinson, has urged a reduction in the number of Assembly members, government departments, bureaucrats and red tape in order to help cope with budget demands.
When discussing the 2007-2008 £14.1 billion budget in the Assembly yesterday, Mr Robinson said cutting the number of Executive departments - currently 10 plus the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister - and the number of Assembly members, currently 108, would provide significant savings.
He said that such a proposal might not be popular with MLAs but nonetheless must be fully considered. "I believe that we need to look very seriously at issues such as the number of Assembly members, looking at the number of government departments and there are significant savings that can be made," he said.
He said cutting departments did not necessarily mean reducing the number of Ministers as the savings were to be made mainly in lowering department costs. "These are funds that are going into bureaucracy that could be going into frontline services and if things are going to be tight then that's the area of activity that I believe the savings can be made rather than at the front desk where the consumer has an interface with the public sector," he added.
Much of yesterday's proceedings in the Assembly were devoted to financial issues such as the budget itself and domestic rates. The actual £14.1 billion budget to run the departments was "inherited" from British direct rules ministers for this year because the new devolved administration did not have enough time to devise its own spending plan.
Mr Robinson nonetheless made clear that the Executive must not shirk its responsibilities in implementing the budget in an efficient manner. "It's an exciting time for all of us. The Executive has a unique opportunity to make a real difference in a way that hasn't been possible in the past," he said.
"While the spending plans the Assembly is being asked to approve are those that have been inherited from the previous administration their acceptance represents the first stage of a government as we look to the future," said Mr Robinson.
"It provides the Executive and the Assembly with the necessary lead-in time to establish its own priorities through a new programme for government underpinned by detailed spending plans for the next three years and a longer-term investment."
