Finance Minister Simon Hamilton dares Stormont critics to return £100m Treasury loan

Stormont ministers who voted against the £100m Government loan to the Executive are to be asked if they want to hand their allocation back.

Finance Minister Simon Hamilton accused the Ulster Unionist and Alliance ministers of being hypocritical in voting against the deal – but taking their allocations.

Justice Minister David Ford was awarded £29m to combat pressures on the policing budget and legal aid costs.

Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy received a £4.5m allocation to maintain the concessionary fares on public transport for senior citizens.

Alliance leader Mr Ford and Ulster Unionist Mr Kennedy along with the SDLP's sole Minister, Mark H Durkan, who heads the Environment Department, all voted against the package voted through by the DUP and Sinn Fein ministers late last Thursday.

And yesterday the Finance Minister hit back at Alliance's Judith Cochrane who pointed out DUP ministers continued to take money while boycotting the Executive in the Assembly which followed the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Hamilton replied: "I think there are hypocritical ministers within the Executive not least her party colleagues, who sat in the Executive and voted against the package even after crying and crying for weeks for funding

"Not only did they display a degree of hypocrisy they offered no viable alternative at all."

The Finance Minister said he intended to write to the three ministers to explain "if they are so principled and against (this package) then it is their right not to take that money.

"I will recommend to the Executive in January the allocations to their departments are reversed, I will give them the opportunity not to take the money the rest of us have agreed."

Alliance's Kieran McCarthy said when Mr Hamilton resorted to name-calling, it demonstrated he was losing the argument and perhaps already regretted the £100m loan which has to be paid back to the Treasury next year.

Mr Hamilton rejected the suggestion of Sinn Fein's Daithi McKay that the Government has got "cold feet" over giving Stormont powers to reduce corporation tax.

"I am still hopeful our negotiations will bear fruit, we have put a very robust case forward and are now waiting for the Chancellor to make an announcement."

However, Mr Hamilton added: "I would rather not be in a position where we did what we did."

Story so far

The Executive accepted Chancellor George Osborne's offer of a £100m loan to prevent more spending cuts, but it comes with conditions. Ministers must pay back the no-interest loan next year, on top of the £200m they are expected to owe, and must complete a budget for next year by the end of this month.

Belfast Telegraph