If Northern Ireland does not fall into line with Westminster on welfare reform it will cost us more than £1bn in funding over the next five years, as well as 1,410 Civil Service jobs in Belfast and Londonderry, according to a Stormont minister.
The potentially ruinous figures are contained in a paper circulated by Finance Minister Simon Hamilton (below) to all his Executive colleagues.
Britain will starting switching off its old IT infrastructure as it moves towards the new benefit system. If separate systems were needed here, the cost by 2019 would hit an estimated £1.8bn.
Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Welfare row could cost us £1bn and 1,400 jobs – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk.
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