THERE must be “no more quick fixes” for Northern Ireland’s public finance crisis, trade unions said today.

Speaking at the launch of a major new policy document containing labour movement proposals to tackle the crisis, Irish Congress of Trade Unions assistant general secretary Gerry Murphy said: “Northern Ireland’s public finances are a mess. This needs to be addressed and the conversation needs to start now.”

Mr Murphy said unions believed that there needed to be “a realignment of our economy.”

They are proposing cancellation of the current crippling debt, a real transformation of public services, the replacement of the current public service funding formula and a change to the tax system.

Insisting that “there must be no more quick fixes,” Mr Murphy said: “We propose a new transformation fund for the type of reforms required for our NHS and other public services separate from the block grant,” adding that Stormont departments should be required to submit bids for specific reform projects to the Treasury. 

He added: “This avoids making the same mistakes of previous deals, where funding for long-term problems was granted on a short-term basis.

“In the medium term, Northern Ireland should have a funding settlement established on a needs-based system that ensures public services match those available elsewhere in the UK.”