27 September 2002
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is to receive a 13% funding increase next year, worth £6m, with a further £18.3m committed for 2005/06.
The extra money goes to the Dard's 'Vision Plan' to strengthen Northern Ireland's agriculture industry and rebuild its rural economy. It envisages a retraining and labour skills programme and a more interventionist approach to support agricultural businesses, improve animal health and support development in key sectors.
In cash terms, the biggest slice of the budget's extra money goes to health, with a 13.6% increase. But Northern Ireland's NHS needs an extra 10% per year just to meet rising demand.
Health Minister Bairbre de Brun said that the allocation meant an extra £27m would go towards tackling bed blocking and improving renal, cancer and cardiac treatment.
De Brun said the settlement did 'little to address the funding gap of up to £200m which exists between here and England'. She added: 'With this allocation it will only be possible to make limited improvements to existing services.'
Maurice Dunlop, chair of the British Medical Association's NI Council, welcomed the move to three-year spending plans, but said money must be spent 'within the context of a coherent strategic plan'. 'All too often, money disappears into the vast caverns of the NHS and is lost,' he argued.
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