by Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said negotiations with the DUP on post-Brexit trade deals have concluded and called for a decision to be made on the return of Stormont.
Heaton-Harris also outlined a new £3.3bn financial package offer for a returning Executive to stabilize Northern Ireland’s finances, which she said was a final offer.
The offer includes additional funding to tackle hospital waiting lists and for the PSNI to deal with the impact of a major data breach, and would result in an overspend being written off in Stormont’s budget if an Executive returns implements a fiscal sustainability plan.
The minister received political leaders from Northern Ireland at Hillsborough Castle on Tuesday.
But DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he did not believe the offer was enough to bring financial stability to Northern Ireland and added that talks would continue over unionist concerns over trade deals.
Sinn Fein president Mary-Lou McDonald said it was “bitterly disappointing” that other parties in Northern Ireland were still waiting for the DUP to make a decision.
Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin has said the Irish Government will meet Heaton-Harris this week to discuss next steps and described the DUP boycott as a “denial of democracy”.
The unionist party previously signaled there would be no deal to restore Stormont institutions by this time of Christmas.
The Government has been involved in separate talks processes with the DUP over the Windsor Framework and the region’s four largest parties over the Northern Ireland budget crisis.
Power-sharing institutions in Northern Ireland have been collapsing for almost two years.
Concluding talks, Heaton-Harris said: “It is disappointing that there is not a new Executive in place to take up this offer and deliver it to the people of Northern Ireland before Christmas.
“However, this package is on the table and will remain there, available on the incoming Northern Ireland Executive’s first day to take it up.”
He added: “The UK Government has also held extensive discussions with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) about the Windsor Framework over the past eight months.
“From our perspective, those conversations, all the underlying issues, have come to a conclusion.”
Heaton-Harris continued: “These financial talks have concluded and a financial package worth more than £3 billion is on the table should the Executive be restored.
“From our perspective, the discussions on the Windsor Framework, all substantive issues have effectively concluded, but we will always be happy to answer concerns and questions about it.
“The time has come to make decisions.”
But Sir Jeffrey said there had still been no agreement on worrying issues surrounding Northern Ireland’s trade with the rest of the UK.
He said: “In relation to the Windsor Framework, the Northern Ireland Protocol and the discussions we have been having with the UK Government, we are very clear: an agreement has not yet been reached on the substantive issues and we will continue collaborating. with the Government to reach the point where that agreement is reached.
“We are not in favor of giving up, we want to get it right, it is important for the future of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom that we secure the change that is required to restore our place within the United Kingdom and its internal market.”
On the financial package offered to restore Stormont, Sir Jeffrey said: “We will look at the other aspects of the offer that the Secretary of State has put forward, we will consider that.
“It remains our view that there is not yet a basis within that financial offer to deliver the financial stability that Northern Ireland needs in the coming years.”
Sir Jeffrey later told the BBC that his party had a separate meeting with Heaton-Harris after the roundtable with the parties, about the “outstanding issues in relation to the Windsor Framework”.
He said: “As far as we are concerned, we are clear that the talks are continuing and that is demonstrated by the fact that we will be engaging with the Government in the coming days and weeks on the substantive and outstanding issues, and we are working to reach an agreement ”.
Sinn Fein leader Mrs McDonald said: “The work is done here, the British Government has put forward a new financial offer.
“We are very clear and have been from the beginning that the finances of the Executive, for the financing of the north, will be a constant battle every day with the Conservative government, and we have also always believed and still believe that we are in a much better position strong to defend sustainable finances from the position of a strong Executive.
“The negotiation between the DUP and the British government on the Windsor Framework has ended,” he concluded.
“Jeffrey Donaldson said a few days ago that he and the DUP had reached a decision point. “It is very, very unfortunate that they have stepped back from that position, that the decision has not been made.”
During the Hillsborough talks, the Government revealed its new financial offer after Northern Ireland parties said the £2.5bn offer made last week was not enough.
The £3.3bn package includes:
– up to £584 million for public sector pay claims as a non-refundable reserve claim
– a new Welsh-style needs-based funding formula set at 124% in the Barnett formula for 2024-25
– to cover the backdating of the financing formula, a stabilization fund of £1.125 million will be concentrated over two years
– A £559m Stormont budget overspend will be deferred for two years and then canceled when a returning Executive publishes and implements a fiscal sustainability plan.
– A dedicated fund of more than £600 million for a transformation plan, with at least £150 million reserved for transformation projects.
– An additional £34 million to tackle hospital waiting lists in Northern Ireland
– £15 million to the PSNI to deal with the impacts of a major data breach
– an enhanced investment zone worth £150 million will be created
– Northern Ireland’s annual capital borrowing limit will be increased over five years, worth an additional £135 million by 2028/29.
Mr Tanaiste Martin said: “It is very difficult to come to a conclusion as to why we do not have the restoration of the Executive and the institutions this week, because it seems to me… it is not clear to me what remains to be negotiated with respect to those issues.”
