Department of Finance (Northern Ireland)


The Department of Finance is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister for Finance.
The department was previously called the Department of Finance and Personnel before its name change on 9 May 2016.

Aim

DoF's overall aim is to help the Northern Ireland Executive "secure the most appropriate and effective use of resources and services for the benefit of the community".
The incumbent Minister is Conor Murphy.

Responsibilities

The department is responsible for the following policy areas:
Some financial matters are reserved to Westminster and are therefore not devolved:
In addition, some matters are excepted and were not intended for devolution:
DoF's main counterparts in the United Kingdom Government are:
In the Irish Government, the main counterparts are:
A Ministry of Finance was established on the formation of Northern Ireland in June 1921. A finance ministry also existed in the 1974 Northern Ireland Executive and became known as the Department of Finance and Personnel under direct rule.
Following a referendum on the Belfast Agreement on 23 May 1998 and the granting of royal assent to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 on 19 November 1998, a Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive were established by the United Kingdom Government under Prime Minister Tony Blair. The process was known as devolution 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 the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and The Departments 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 of direct rule ministers from the Northern Ireland Office:
Since 8 May 2007, devolution has operated without interruption.

Ministers of Finance

Direct rule ministers

During the periods of suspension, the following ministers of the Northern Ireland Office were responsible for the department: