Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan has said the DUP should put funding to ensure children don’t go hungry during school holidays over its electoral panic.

The West Belfast MLA said:

“Today’s report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggests that up to one in four children here are living in poverty.

“At a time of a cost-of-living crisis, the DUP has prioritised its own narrow electoral interests over the needs of families by blocking funding being issued to ensure children don’t go hungry during school holidays.

“The Finance Minister set aside funding to tackle holiday hunger for 100,000 children and young people over the next three years and this cannot be allocated because of the DUP’s reckless decision to collapse the Executive.

“An Executive is the only way of getting this support into the pockets of hard-pressed families who desperately need this support, so the DUP need to get back to work and put people over electoral panic.”