'This isn’t just bad planning but bad governance' - Derry SDLP MLA on Northern Ireland budget

Mr Durkan was speaking as he and other Opposition MLAs voted against the budget in the Assembly on Monday. The vote however passed with 57 of the 67 MLAs present voting in favour.

The elected representatives were asked to endorse a motion ‘that this Assembly approves the programme of expenditure proposals for 2025-26 as announced by the Minister of Finance on April 3 2025 and set out in the Budget document laid before the Assembly on 12 May 2025’.

Speaking in the Assembly Mr Durkan detailed a catalogue of urgent matters which he said the budget tabled didn’t deal with.

"Let’s begin where the cracks are most visible; our crumbling roads,” he said. “It’s unforgivable that 70% of our road network is now rated ‘poor or very poor.’ In Foyle alone, a 1km stretch of the Strand Road has had over 400 pothole repairs. Yet the department for Infrastructure advised that it still doesn’t warrant resurfacing.

“The Strategic Road Maintenance Plan recommends £143 million per year to keep roads in a steady state. That figure hasn’t been met once in over a decade. Meanwhile, compensation claims for damage caused by poor road conditions have soared to £25 million over the past five years. The cost of doing nothing isn’t zero, it’s rising into the millions.

“Today’s budget also failure to invest in wastewater infrastructure, despite clear warnings from NI Water that the system is at breaking point. Without urgent upgrades, housing development will grind to a halt and pollution levels will rise. How can we solve the housing crisis when developments are stalled by inadequate infrastructure. This isn’t just bad planning but bad governance.”

He continued: “Earlier this year, the SDLP proposed a motion to deliver Infrastructure Commission, designed to tackle a £3 billion capital overspend. Again workable solutions aren’t being considered. Instead, the Executive squabbles over issues like £150k Irish language signage at Grand Central Station. Selective outrage is cheap. What’s expensive is the dysfunction being ignored.

“On public transport, the picture is just as bleak. One in five rural bus services have been cut, fares are up, and investment is lagging. In Derry, Sunday rail services remain stuck at just six per day, while nearby Coleraine runs 14; a glaring example of regional imbalance. We can’t keep asking people to leave the car at home if the public transport isn’t there to take them anywhere. And we can’t fight back against climate change without harnessing the opportunities of public transport.

“The Opposition is calling for targeted investment in maintenance over vanity projects, a fairer distribution of resources and bold reform to end the cycle of delay and dysfunction.”

"The Executive talks about ‘doing what matters most’, but this budget shows they don’t know or care to know, what that is.”

Speaking earlier this year, Finance Minister John O’Dowd said: “Despite the financial challenges facing us, Ministers have worked together to make a positive difference to allocate resources to improve the lives of workers, families and communities.

“The 2024-25 Budget provided £25 million for early learning and childcare support measures, supporting hard working families by making childcare more affordable. This investment will be doubled to £50 million under the 2025-26 Draft Budget.

“Almost £1 billion of funding was allocated in June and October monitoring rounds to where it was most needed from health to education and policing to social housing and wastewater infrastructure.”