Northern Ireland
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-26
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Peadar Tóibín (AON), Meath West

Stormont is in big trouble. Stormont is in a mess. It is limping on day to day currently. In most of the human indicators in terms of quality of life, the people in the North of Ireland are falling currently. In terms of investment in education, hospital services, children's services and disabilities, money is being reduced on an annual basis. Public services are starting to grind to a halt. There is no doubt that the Sinn Féin, DUP and Alliance Executive is not delivering for the people but Stormont cannot even agree on budget at the moment it is in such trouble. A large part of this problem is because Stormont cannot raise its own funds. It can only raise about 5% of its own income. Wales can raise 10% and Scotland can raise 20%. I asked the Taoiseach a question a number of years ago in relation to the reform of Stormont. At that stage, the Taoiseach agreed with me that it needs to be reformed but he said it was too close to the next Stormont election to do so. Here we are, one year out from the next Stormont election and no work has been done on reform. This is serious. What can we do to reform so that Stormont functions properly and that it can raise its own funds like the other devolved administrations?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:04+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-26