Stormont ministers agree programme for government
By David Young, PA
Stormont ministers have agreed the devolved Executive’s programme for government.
The ministers rubber-stamped the governance plan during a virtual meeting on Thursday morning.
It is understood there were no dissenting voices during the meeting, which lasted just over half an hour.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly are due to formally announce the agreement at a press conference at Stormont later on Thursday morning.
The programme for government (pfg) will now go before the Assembly for consideration by MLAs.
Ministers had been due to meet on Wednesday to green light the pfg but it was postponed at late notice.
The hold up was blamed on an administrative issue, with Alliance Party Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir complaining he was not being provided with sufficient time to review the final document ahead of a planned Executive meeting to sign it off.
A draft programme for government, which was an 88-page document titled Our Plan: Doing What Matters Most, was published last September ahead of an eight-week public consultation exercise.
A final version was due to be agreed before the first anniversary of the return of devolution at the start of February, but that timeline was not met.
At the time, Ms O’Neill blamed the delay on the Executive’s need to respond to Storm Eowyn.
The draft programme for government was framed by three key missions, people, planet and prosperity, with an underpinning cross-cutting commitment to peace.
It set out nine policy areas that Executive ministers have agreed to prioritise in the two years remaining in this Assembly mandate.
They were: growing a globally competitive and sustainable economy; delivering affordable childcare; cutting health waiting times; ending violence against women and girls; providing better support for children and young people with special educational needs; providing more social, affordable and sustainable housing; making communities safer; protecting Lough Neagh and the environment; and reforming and transforming public services.
When the draft document was published, critics claimed it lacked tangible targets to measure progress in achieving its objectives.
