Department of Finance
Department overview
FormedJune 1921 (as Ministry of Finance)
Preceding Department
JurisdictionNorthern Ireland
HeadquartersClare House

303 Airport Road Belfast

BT3 9ED
Employees3,586 (September 2011)[1]
Annual budget£188.6 million (current) & £18.9 million (capital) for 2011–12[2]
Minister responsible
  • Vacant
Websitewww.finance-ni.gov.uk

The Department of Finance (DoF, Irish: An Roinn Airgeadais,[3] Ulster-Scots: Männystrie o Siller[4]) is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister for Finance.

The department was previously called the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP) before its name change on 9 May 2016.

Aim

DoF's overall aim is to help the Northern Ireland Executive "secure the most appropriate and effective use of resources and services for the benefit of the community".[5]

The incumbent Minister is Conor Murphy.

Responsibilities

The department is responsible for the following policy areas:

Some financial matters are reserved to Westminster and are therefore not devolved: [6]

In addition, some matters are excepted and were not intended for devolution:[7]

  • taxation
  • currency

DoF's main counterparts in the United Kingdom Government are:

In the Irish Government, the main counterparts are:

History

A Ministry of Finance was established on the formation of Northern Ireland in June 1921. A finance ministry also existed in the 1974 Northern Ireland Executive and became known as the Department of Finance and Personnel under direct rule.

Following a referendum on the Belfast Agreement on 23 May 1998 and the granting of royal assent to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 on 19 November 1998, a Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive were established by the United Kingdom Government under Prime Minister Tony Blair. The process was known as devolution and was set up to return devolved legislative powers to Northern Ireland. DFP is therefore one of six direct rule Northern Ireland departments which continued in existence after devolution in December 1999 by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and The Departments (Northern Ireland) Order 1999.

A devolved minister first took office on 2 December 1999. Devolution was suspended for four periods, during which the department came under the responsibility of direct rule ministers from the Northern Ireland Office:

Since 8 May 2007, devolution has operated without interruption.

Ministers of Finance

MinisterImagePartyTook officeLeft office
   Mark DurkanSDLP29 November 199911 February 2000
Office suspended
   Mark DurkanSDLP30 May 200013 December 2001[25]
   Seán FarrenSDLP14 December 200114 October 2002
Office suspended
    Peter RobinsonDUP14 May 20079 June 2008
    Nigel DoddsDUP9 June 20081 July 2009
    Sammy WilsonDUP1 July 200928 July 2013
    Simon HamiltonDUP29 July 201311 May 2015
   Arlene FosterDUP11 May 201512 January 2016
   Mervyn StoreyDUP13 January 201630 March 2016
Office renamed Minister of Finance
   Máirtín Ó MuilleoirSinn Féin25 May 20162 March 2017
Office suspended
   Conor MurphySinn Féin11 January 202027 October 2022

Direct rule ministers

During the periods of suspension, the following ministers of the Northern Ireland Office were responsible for the department:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Northern Ireland Quarterly Employment Survey Historical Data". Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  2. ↑ "Budget 2011–15" (PDF). Department of Finance and Personnel. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  3. ↑ Department of Finance and Personnel – Irish Archived 17 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine Department of Finance
  4. ↑ Department of Finance and Personnel – Ulster-Scots Archived 17 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine Department of Finance
  5. ↑ Northern Ireland Budget 2011–15, page 65
  6. ↑ Northern Ireland Act 1998, Schedule 3
  7. ↑ Northern Ireland Act 1998, Schedule 2
  8. ↑ HM Treasury: About us
  9. ↑ Cabinet Office: About the Cabinet Office
  10. ↑ Ministry of Justice: About us Archived 23 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ Communities and Local Government: About us
  12. ↑ Land Registry: Framework document
  13. ↑ Department of Finance: How the Department works
  14. ↑ Department of Justice: Law Reform
  15. ↑ Department of Justice: Property Registration
  16. ↑ Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Building Standards Archived 9 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Commencement) Order 2000
  18. ↑ Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Restoration of Devolved Government) Order 2000
  19. ↑ Article 1, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Suspension of Devolved Government) Order 2001
  20. ↑ Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Restoration of Devolved Government) Order 2001
  21. ↑ Article 1, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Suspension of Devolved Government) (No.2) Order 2001
  22. ↑ Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Restoration of Devolved Government) (No.2) Order 2001
  23. ↑ Article 1, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Suspension of Devolved Government) Order 2002
  24. ↑ Article 2, Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Restoration of Devolved Government) Order 2007
  25. ↑ Office suspended for 24 hours on 11 August 2001 and 22 September 2001
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