Stormont Seeks UK Treasury's Help for NI Budget

0:00This has been Europe news today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. Stormman's pushing hard for a solid financial package from the UK Treasury to ease Northern Ireland's tight budget. Finance Minister John O'Dowd says the recent move to help families with skyrocketing energy bills is adding real strain, but it's a must-do step. He's had two meetings this week with Northern Ireland's Secretary Hillary Ben, and the whole executive is united on this. O'Dowd presented papers showing they can't deliver key services or boost the economy with the current three-year budget limits. Everyone agrees. It's crucial to back low-income families right now, even if it hurts the bottom line. Officials stress that, without more cash, the region's growth and public services will suffer big time. To tackle heating oil costs, they pledged 19.2 million pounds on top of 17 million pounds from the UK government that funds 100-pound payments for up to 340,000 households. The British government seems to be tuning in now, but O'Dowd says they got to act fast

1:02with real funding so Stormman can get the job done and keep, supporting folks through these tough times.