My Lords, I rise to support the amendment in the name of my noble friends Lord Dodds and Lord Morrow. Reflecting on the comments of the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie, we absolutely do need to see our Executive up and running again on a sustainable and fair basis. Of course, that was also the case in 2017, when Sinn Féin collapsed the Executive for not one, not two, but three years.
During those three years, which should have been spent reforming our National Health Service after a very expensive report was brought forward in the name of Rafael Bengoa, that report sat on the shelf, because the then Health Minister Michelle O’Neill, along with her colleagues, decided to come out of government. As a result of that, we have seen the sustainability issues in Northern Ireland get worse over time. I say that as, along with my noble friend Lord Dodds, a former Finance Minister in Northern Ireland.
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The reason why I strongly support the amendment is that, as the Minister will know, the Government strongly desired to see the Fiscal Council happen because they had concerns about the sustainability and greater transparency of Northern Ireland’s public finances—and so they should, because during the time when Sinn Féin held the finance portfolio, not once did we have a budget, and they held it for a number of years. We did not have a budget in 2017, nor before the Executive collapsed in 2022.
So it is right that the Fiscal Council was put in place after New Decade, New Approach came forward. We should therefore listen carefully to what that council has to say. It was put there for a reason, and its latest report is very instructive in relation to the public finances of Northern Ireland. I hope the Minister will address the issues of the Barnett floor, which our colleagues in Wales have done, as well as the issue of the Fiscal Council. It was put in place for a reason.
I accept what the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie, says about having the Executive to deal with these issues. Regrettably, when the Executive was in place, the issues were not dealt with because, as I have indicated, the Finance Ministers of the day did not bring forward budgets. So it is important to listen to the independent voice in Northern Ireland, and that is the Fiscal Council. I hope the Minister will take that on board in his response.