There was good news and bad news yesterday for the
Committee for the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Min..., who were
discussing the accelerated passage of the Financial Assistance Bill with Junior Ministers Jeffrey Donaldson and Gerry Kelly.
The bad news was that the Executive currently does not have the necessary authority to make an effective financial response to a crisis and could, according to Jeffrey Donaldson, be “sharper” when it comes to dealing with poverty. This is why the new Bill needs to be rushed through the Assembly – without it, the Executive is unable to make the supplementary fuel poverty payments promised last month by Nigel Dodds. Worst of all, the gap in Executive powers has been recognised for some time, but remedying the situation was delayed by the Executive’s failure to meet.
The good news was that not only will the new Bill allow the Executive to act more efficiently to protect people from hardship in the event of a crisis, but they will be better able to deal effectively with unacceptable levels of poverty – such as those revealed by the
Save the Children report on child poverty last year.
So, we can rest assured that next time, at least, the Executive will be ready for action.
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