Caoimhe Archibald: Sinn Féin minister seeks clarity on 'repackaged' funds

Northern Ireland's finance minister has said she is "awaiting clarity" from the government over what funding in its £3.3bn offer for Stormont is "repackaged" money.

Caoimhe Archibald said the executive would be "left picking up the tab".

She was speaking after it emerged funding earmarked for 10 school building projects had been withdrawn.

The government said the £150m was reallocated in its financial offer for Stormont.

The executive was offered a financial package worth £3.3bn for the return of the power-sharing executive, including a "repurposing" of more than £700m of "existing and new UK government funds".

It followed talks with the Stormont parties in December at Hillsborough Castle.

Speaking in the assembly on Tuesday, Ms Archibald said she was "still awaiting clarity from Treasury as to what money has been repackaged within that £708m".

The Sinn Féin minister expressed concern over funding from a previous deal, the Fresh Start Agreement, being withdrawn from shared and integrated school building projects.

"This isn't something that the executive signed up to," she told assembly members.

"We were very clear in the talks in Hillsborough that we understood that some money was being repackaged. We have yet to receive details of that, and certainly we will be left picking up the tab in trying to deal with the outworkings of that."

Matthew O'Toole, leader of the opposition at Stormont, said: "I'm afraid people out there watching will find it absolutely astounding that no minister has any idea what has actually been agreed to in relation to reallocating existing money."

The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) assembly member asked the minister if she could give any assurances to voluntary organisations that may be "worried".

Ms Archibald said she understood from officials the other funding streams "repackaged" by the UK government could include Levelling Up funding.

She said she would be raising the issue with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on Wednesday.

On Monday, the education minister said schools had been "let down" by the UK government after the 10 building projects had their Fresh Start funding removed.

Paul Givan, of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), told assembly members he had written to the government seeking extra funding.

The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) said the government's £3.3bn offer for Stormont was "significant" and would help "stabilise its finances and protect public services".

"This package increases the spending power of the executive by repurposing over £700m of existing and new UK government funds," it said.

"Repurposing £150m of the Fresh Start Agreement funding has provided additional flexibility to the Northern Ireland Executive to decide how it uses the non-ringfenced funding and new UK government funding streams."