Arsonists lit 14,000 malicious blazes in the region last year, according to the latest government figures.

The cost of tackling those fires was just under £31m.

Almost £150m worth of resources has been deployed to fight more than 70,000 non-accidental fires over the last five years.

The statistics were disclosed to DUP Assembly member Simon Hamilton in response to a written question to Stormont Health Minister Michael McGimpsey.

"It is staggering that as much as 40% of the entire current expenditure budget allocation of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service is lost in a year because of the need for fire fighters to tackle malicious incidents," said the Strangford MLA.

"Malicious incidents including deliberately started fires are an unfortunate fact of life. Barely a day will go by without news reports of a maliciously started fire somewhere in Northern Ireland.

"But that 40p in every taxpayer pound allocated to the Fire Service is being consumed by the need to address the activities of a malevolent minority is shocking in the extreme.

"In total, over the course of the last five years, nearly £150m has been spent on malicious fire incidents."