'Room for improvement' on offer of extra £1.5bn for NI, says O'Dowd

There is "room for improvement" on the UK government's offer of an extra £1.5bn for Northern Ireland, Finance Minister John O'Dowd has said.

He was speaking after an urgent meeting of Stormont ministers on Tuesday in which they had a "useful discussion" about the latest offer.

No budget has been agreed by the power-sharing coalition six months into the financial year, with Stormont parties pressing Westminster for more funding.

Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant made a "final offer" of £1.5bn extra money last month and has since instructed his officials to consider "contingency plans" should it not be accepted.

O'Dowd said ministers were "seeking further clarification" from Sir Chris and the Treasury over the funding.

"If we can get clarification around the issues we're raising then the executive has agreed to come back again on Thursday to have further discussions," O'Dowd told BBC Newsline.

"There is room for improvement to, not only the quantum of finance available, but also the conditions around that."

Earlier, Justice Minister Naomi Long warned that the executive should not "cut off its nose to spite its face" when it comes to deciding whether to accept the deal.

In response to that remark, First Minister Michelle O'Neill said that the Stormont executive should not "be throwing in the towel" when it came to trying to secure more money from Westminster.

If Stormont does not agree a budget it is possible for the Northern Ireland secretary to pass it in Westminster.

O'Neill said it would be "a very dangerous message" for Sir Chris to send to "reach over the heads of ourselves, who have mandates, who are elected by the people here to deal with the budget situation".

Long said the Stormont executive had to "accept the reality" that there was no more money on offer from the government to help stabilise Northern Ireland's finances.

She said she did not believe the government was "playing games or hard-balling".

"I'd love to see more money, my department could do with it quite frankly... but it is what it is."

The government has made clear that if the executive does not accept its offer, it will pass a budget through Westminster but the additional £1.5bn will not remain on offer.

Long said: "Throwing £1.5bn out the window is not sustainable."

Stormont departments are facing a shortfall of up to £1.6bn, according to a spending watchdog.

Last month, Bryant made an offer of a financial package worth about £1.5bn over the next three years.

But executive parties said it did not go far enough and have argued that significant gaps remain before they can agree to a deal that would allow them to set a budget.

With no agreed budget, public services have been operating under contingency arrangements allowing departments to spend up to 95% of last year's funding.