AQW 9729/17-22

Mr Andrew Muir
Alliance Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 04/11/2020
Answered On Date: 11/11/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure what exceptional circumstances meant that her Department was the only Department to bid for holiday pay as part of the October monitoring round.

Answer:

Untaken annual leave is required to be recognised as a liability at each financial year end. Under normal circumstances, the liability from one financial year to the next is not usually significantly different for my Department. However, given the unprecedented situation, it is anticipated that the amount of annual leave carried forward will be greater than the previous year end, hence increasing the liability this financial year.

My Department is facing significant resource pressures as a result of income lost due to the pandemic and simply is not able to absorb any further pressures. Given the challenging financial position, my Department submitted the pressure arising from the estimated increase in the year-end holiday accrual as a bid in the October monitoring round.

This issue is not unique to DfI. I cannot speculate on the actions of other Departments and why they may or may not have bid for similar pressures.