To ask the Minister of Finance for his assessment of the potential impact of climate change on Northern Ireland’s budget.

The process for determining the upcoming multi-annual Budget has already been initiated by my Department. As part of this process, departments will be asked to identify any cost pressures that they will face over this period, including those that may arise as a result of efforts to tackle climate change. This will be used by the Executive to determine allocations across departments, based on agreed priorities and on the budget available following the outcome of the Spending Review.