| Irish:An Roinn Airgeadais; Ulster-Scots:Männystrie o Siller | |
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| Department overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | June 1921 (asMinistry of Finance) |
| Preceding Department | |
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Headquarters | Clare House, 303 Airport Road, Belfast, BT3 9ED |
| Employees | 3,586 (September 2011)[1] |
| Annual budget | £188.6 million (current) & £18.9 million (capital) for 2011–12[2] |
| Minister responsible | |
| Department executive |
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| Website | www.finance-ni.gov.uk |
| This article is part ofa series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the |
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Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland |
TheDepartment of Finance (DoF,Irish:An Roinn Airgeadais,[5]Ulster-Scots:Männystrie o Siller[6]) is adevolvedNorthern Ireland government department in theNorthern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister for Finance. The incumbent Minister isJohn O'Dowd.
The department was previously called theDepartment of Finance and Personnel (DFP) before its name change on 9 May 2016.
DoF's overall aim is to help theNorthern Ireland Executive "secure the most appropriate and effective use of resources and services for the benefit of the community".[7]
The department is responsible for the following policy areas:
Some financial matters arereserved to Westminster and are therefore not devolved:[8]
In addition, some matters areexcepted and were not intended for devolution:[9]
DoF's main counterparts in theUnited Kingdom Government are:
In theIrish Government, the main counterparts are:
TheLay Observer for Northern Ireland is an independent, special agency of the Department of Finance inNorthern Ireland.[19][20]
AMinistry of Finance was established on the formation of Northern Ireland in June 1921. A finance ministry also existed in the 1974Northern Ireland Executive and became known as the Department of Finance and Personnel under direct rule.
Following areferendum on theBelfast Agreement on 23 May 1998 and the granting ofroyal assent to theNorthern Ireland Act 1998 on 19 November 1998, aNorthern Ireland Assembly andNorthern Ireland Executive were established by theUnited Kingdom Government under Prime MinisterTony Blair. The process was known asdevolution 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 theNorthern Ireland Act 1998 andThe 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 ofdirect rule ministers from theNorthern Ireland Office:
Since 8 May 2007, devolution has operated without interruption.
| Minister | Image | Party | Took office | Left office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Durkan |  | SDLP | 29 November 1999 | 11 February 2000 | |
| Office suspended | |||||
| Mark Durkan | | SDLP | 30 May 2000 | 13 December 2001[29] | |
| Seán Farren |  | SDLP | 14 December 2001 | 14 October 2002 | |
| Office suspended | |||||
| Peter Robinson |  | DUP | 14 May 2007 | 9 June 2008 | |
| Nigel Dodds |  | DUP | 9 June 2008 | 1 July 2009 | |
| Sammy Wilson |  | DUP | 1 July 2009 | 28 July 2013 | |
| Simon Hamilton |  | DUP | 29 July 2013 | 11 May 2015 | |
| Arlene Foster |  | DUP | 11 May 2015 | 12 January 2016 | |
| Mervyn Storey |  | DUP | 13 January 2016 | 30 March 2016 | |
| Office renamed Minister of Finance | |||||
| Máirtín Ó Muilleoir |  | Sinn Féin | 25 May 2016 | 2 March 2017 | |
| Office suspended | |||||
| Conor Murphy |  | Sinn Féin | 11 January 2020 | 27 October 2022 | |
| Office suspended | |||||
| Caoimhe Archibald | .jpg) | Sinn Féin | 3 February 2024 | 3 February 2025 | |
| John O'Dowd |  | Sinn Féin | 3 February 2025 | Incumbent | |
During the periods of suspension, the following ministers of theNorthern Ireland Office were responsible for the department:
The Lay Observer can determine whether the Law Society has handled a complaint fairly, thoroughly and impartially. She also influences good practice in complaints handling both by the Law Society and ultimately, by solicitors.
Contact details for the Lay Observer for Northern Ireland, who receives and examines guidelines about the complaints process operated by the Law Society of Northern Ireland and about the way the Client Complaints Committee in the Law Society handles complaints about solicitors.
