Commentary on provisions of Act Section 1 – Issue of sum out of the Consolidated Fund for year ending 31 March 2018 and appropriation of that sum
Section 1 authorises the issue out of the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland the sum of £16,166,048,000 for the purposes set out in Schedule 1. This authorisation supersedes those amounts previously authorised by the Permanent Secretary of the Northern Ireland Department of Finance under section 59 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. This is not new money, as it is an authorisation for issue from the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland as would normally be done by the Assembly. The sums referred to are those already appropriated by Parliament through the Supply and Appropriation (Main Estimates) Act 2017, together with revenue generated locally within Northern Ireland under the Assembly’s devolved powers.