Westminster ‘must provide support for National Insurance contribution increases’
Calls have been made for adequate funding to be provided to offset the impact on businesses of increased National Insurance contributions.
The Finance Minister, Dr Caoimhe Archibald has written to the Chief Secretary of the Treasury pressing for funding and outlined the situation many Northern Ireland businesses are facing.
Highlighting that increased National Insurance contributions will prove incredibly challenging for local businesses, Dr Archibald added that the community and voluntary sector and public sector employers will also be negatively impacted.
“Devolved Governments quite simply do not have the financial capacity to compensate for decisions made on reserved taxation matters,” said the Minister.
“The Chancellor has said support will be provided for public sector employers, however it is unlikely to be sufficient to meet the increased costs. I have written to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury asking for our costs to be met in full and for support for those outside central government who provide vital public services, given the pressures they will face as a result of this policy decision.”
The Minister said that her department has commissioned Ulster University Economic Policy Centre to conduct a focused cost of doing business sectoral study to look at the impact of the National Insurance contributions increases and other factors such as insurance, energy and property costs and the disparities in tax regimes, such as VAT, across Ireland.
“It is important that we hear the voices of those impacted which is why the team will be carrying out a series of sectoral and business representative body consultations to inform the research,” she added.
Terms of Reference for the Cost of Doing Business research have been published on the Department of Finance’s website with the study due to be concluded by the end of March 2025.
