Executive Faces Deep Cuts

The Northern Executive will have to save an extra £128 million ($184 million) on top of other savings this year.

The cuts are part of the overall package announced by the British Treasury on Monday.

The British Chancellor George Osborne has given the devolved regions the option of making the cuts now in this current financial year - or deferring them until the year after.

The Northern finance minister, Sammy Wilson, said he would be weighing up the options.

The Northern Executive will decide which departments will be affected.

The cuts in 2010-11 for devolved administrations will be £704 million to be cut across the North of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The chancellor, George Osborne, said it was necessary to take "urgent action" to address the British budget deficit as he spelt out plans for £6.2 billion worth of cuts.

The Department of Finance at Stormont has worked out that the North's share of this round of cut backs will be £128 million.

Monday's round of £128 million worth of cuts are on top of the £393 million, government departments in the North have already been told they have to save this year.

The announcement is only the beginning of the British government's three year program to reduce their huge budget deficit.

Finance minister Sammy Wilson said: "We knew it was coming down the line and when departments surrender money through the year as inevitably they do, we can maybe use some of that to offset these cuts that have been imposed on us.

"So it might be a combination of some deferral, some implementation now, or deferral or full implementation now.

"It is something the Executive will have to look at and I will be taking a paper to them on it."

Many executive departmental budgets for this year have already been set so ministers will have to decide if they want to take the pain now or postpone it - but either way the cuts will have to be made.

Meanwhile, First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness are due to meet the leaders of the Scottish parliament and the Welsh assembly at Stormont later on Monday.

But Mr McGuinness denied this was an attempt by Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff to "gang up" on the new London coalition.

"Some people might like to portray it as such but that is not the way we see it," he said.

"Our approach is to be very positive and constructive as we go forward.  It just makes sense that Scotland, Wales and the north work together and do it in a positive and constructive fashion."

Robinson and McGuinness will meet the Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond and the Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones to consider their financial options.

All three devolved administrations are expected to push for more cash to match some of the regeneration money being spent in London for the 2012 Olympics.