An additional British government allocation of £1.4 billion over the next three years will chiefly go towards health and education, the North's political development minister, Mr Paul Murphy, has announced.
In the next financial year from 1999-2000 public expenditure in Northern Ireland will be £9.5 billion, which includes a British government subvention of £3 billion. The highest spending areas are social welfare, health and education.
Spending on law and order, chiefly for the RUC and prison service, remains at a high level. Next year the British government will spend £990 million in this area, which is on a par with the current financial year.
Part of this will be used to cover prison service redundancies and to pay for new bodies and reviews arising from the Belfast Agreement. An allocation of £15 million has been provided to run the Assembly, with an additional £3 million for the executive and North-South ministerial council, if they are formed.
Mr Murphy said this could be the last time a British minister makes such decisions on spending in Northern Ireland, as once the Assembly is up and running it will decide how much of this allocation is spent.