The Stormont Economy Minister has declared her department cannot support the Executive's draft budget, warning that funding shortfalls have pushed it to a breaking point.

Caoimhe Archibald told the Assembly's Economy Committee that her department's resource budget had risen only 1 percent since the 2016/17 financial year, compared to a 58 percent increase across the Executive as a whole.

She set out the consequences: Invest NI's resource budget has been cut by 15 percent, funding for Tourism NI has remained largely static, and further education colleges had to make significant operational efficiencies despite a 27 percent funding uplift. The colleges shed 213 staff, or 5 percent of their workforce, through a voluntary exit scheme in 2024.

The department's position was worsened by the loss of EU funding and reductions to its baseline during the years the Assembly was not sitting, she said. The Fiscal Council has confirmed that Northern Ireland is underfunded relative to Scotland and Wales.

The Executive is now more than three months into the financial year without an agreed budget, with all departments operating on contingency allocations. Finance Minister John O'Dowd had hoped negotiations with London would produce a funding package this week, but said events at Westminster had delayed progress.

Ms Archibald insisted that any final settlement must give her department a fair share of additional money to properly fund universities, colleges, and economic development through Invest NI.

Committee chair Phillip Brett noted it was the first time he had heard Ms Archibald publicly oppose a budget put forward by her Sinn Féin colleague Mr O'Dowd. She replied that the Executive collectively viewed the draft budget as untenable and had been working with the Treasury for a sustainable way forward, but that the Westminster delay was complicating efforts.