:00:00. > :00:10.School principals have condemned a proposed cut in education funding.
:00:11. > :00:14.The details were revealed yesterday by the Secretary of State,
:00:15. > :00:17.who said he'll impose a budget if the Stormont parties can't
:00:18. > :00:24.Education could lose 2.5% of its cash allocation - ?50 million.
:00:25. > :00:39.Here's our education correspondent, Robbie Meredith.
:00:40. > :00:47.Of no taking away then adding in schools. The education budget is the
:00:48. > :00:54.second-largest of the mole. A two and half percent cut would be ?50
:00:55. > :01:02.million. Less of it of that money will mean changes in the classroom.
:01:03. > :01:07.That only ?160,000 less for my school which would echo equate to
:01:08. > :01:14.three teaching staff redundancies. I would have increased class sizes but
:01:15. > :01:19.my biggest concern would be the impact on the education of the young
:01:20. > :01:22.people in my school. News of the cut came from the secretary of the
:01:23. > :01:35.state. But there is also towards Stormont. Ellen the Anat Merced to
:01:36. > :01:39.reflect the political priorities. If young people and education is not a
:01:40. > :01:48.priority than I blame politicians. In light of the RHI scandal saying
:01:49. > :01:54.there is no money makes no sense. ?0.5 billion wasted and you now tell
:01:55. > :01:58.me I've got to lose three teachers from my school? Balancing the books
:01:59. > :02:01.is already hard for schools, if this budget becomes a reality losing
:02:02. > :02:03.classroom assistants and teachers will be the only way that many are
:02:04. > :02:04.able to do it. Sinn Fein have blamed Conservative
:02:05. > :02:08.policies for the cuts, but they've been accused by the DUP
:02:09. > :02:11.of dodging hard decisions. Here's our Economics
:02:12. > :02:22.and Business Editor, John Campbell. Our public services have faced a
:02:23. > :02:27.series of tight budgets and that pressure is set to continue. The
:02:28. > :02:35.health service accounts for half of Stormont entire spending. Under the
:02:36. > :02:41.Secretary of State's and it would get some new money but not enough to
:02:42. > :02:45.make an impact. There would be cut education, justice and economic
:02:46. > :02:51.development. Mr Brokenshire says it is an attempt to reflect the
:02:52. > :02:57.priorities of the local party. Those are not UK Government numbers, but
:02:58. > :03:00.reflecting the advice of the head of the Northern Ireland civil service
:03:01. > :03:03.as to his assessment of the position which takes account of the
:03:04. > :03:08.priorities of the political parties prior to the dissolution of the
:03:09. > :03:11.assembly. The Sinn Fein leader at knowledge is that there are tough
:03:12. > :03:21.decisions to be made. She says the blame lives with Westminster. The
:03:22. > :03:28.parts processed -- the cats have been in place since 2010 and the
:03:29. > :03:33.Conservatives came to power. -- Cats macro. The DUP leader says the
:03:34. > :03:43.failure to set a project is down to Sinn Fein. We want to create more
:03:44. > :03:47.jobs in Northern Ireland. Jane Fein have decided that they would rather
:03:48. > :03:51.stick to what seems to be a growing political wish list, instead of
:03:52. > :03:55.dealing with the real issues that matter to the people of Northern
:03:56. > :04:04.Ireland. Bid even if Sinn Fein and the DUP do a deal, with their budget
:04:05. > :04:07.be much different? It is very likely that any devolved assembly executive
:04:08. > :04:15.would have done something very similar. There is one big reason for
:04:16. > :04:19.that. The Secretary of State has decided to stick with that policy,
:04:20. > :04:28.and that has always been the state policy in previous executives. Mr
:04:29. > :04:32.Brokenshire's budget contains ?50 million which has not yet been
:04:33. > :04:40.allocated to the Department. It could be used for education, but
:04:41. > :04:44.whoever uses -- sets a budget will not have much room. Finances will
:04:45. > :04:50.remain tight Stormont for the next few years. 15 million pounds
:04:51. > :04:52.available. Tonight, the Department of Finance
:04:53. > :04:55.said that when the figures are adjusted for the impact
:04:56. > :04:57.of the civil service redundancy scheme, the cuts
:04:58. > :05:09.will not be so deep. It's just been confirmed that a
:05:10. > :05:13.motorcyclist has been doubted died at the fifth race.
:05:14. > :05:16.A 20-year-old man has been charged over the death of a woman in a crash
:05:17. > :05:20.Margaret McLaughlin, who was 69, was a passenger in a car
:05:21. > :05:23.which was involved in a collision with a lorry on the Urney Road.
:05:24. > :05:25.The man will appear in court tomorrow charged with causing death
:05:26. > :05:29.Two weeks ago, Roslea in County Fermanagh lost its GP
:05:30. > :05:31.surgery after no-one applied to take over the practice.
:05:32. > :05:33.Now villagers are being offered an alternative medical service -
:05:34. > :05:35.but as our Health Correspondent Marie-Louise Connolly reports,
:05:36. > :05:51.What happening here in Roslea is typical of what unfolding in lots of
:05:52. > :05:57.rural areas across Northern Ireland. No doctor wants to come to work in a
:05:58. > :06:03.single GP run practice. Perhaps because it is too expensive, too
:06:04. > :06:07.much responsibility, even to lonely. So while GPs are looking after
:06:08. > :06:14.themselves, the big question is who is looking after the people who
:06:15. > :06:18.lived in these rural areas? It's been a fortnight since the locals GP
:06:19. > :06:23.surgery closed. Instead, those living here are expected to travel
:06:24. > :06:29.to the nearest health care practice 35 miles away. The local pharmacy
:06:30. > :06:33.however which is very much in the heart of the village is offering an
:06:34. > :06:38.alternative service, which links the blood via the Internet with a doctor
:06:39. > :06:45.working out of a private practice -- wind people up with a private
:06:46. > :06:55.practice in Belfast? I've had a suicide for the last three weeks...
:06:56. > :07:01.But there is a charge for this. Today staff any public are putting
:07:02. > :07:06.to the test. The way that it is for the minute, if I have to do it I
:07:07. > :07:11.will do it. Paying to see a GP and over the Internet goes against the
:07:12. > :07:14.ethos of the National Health Service which is meant to provide free care
:07:15. > :07:21.at the point of delivery. According to the pharmacists, it's what the
:07:22. > :07:26.National Health Service has come to. This is not an obvious solution, but
:07:27. > :07:33.what it does it allows people who can see a GP have the option to
:07:34. > :07:40.coming here. While some might see this scoping service as a profit
:07:41. > :07:45.opportunity, others may take a more cynical view and see it as creeping
:07:46. > :07:50.privatisation of the health service. Just miles from here over the
:07:51. > :07:54.border, neighbours have no choice but to pay 50 euros to see their GP.
:07:55. > :07:59.While this side of the border hasn't quite reached that save -- stage
:08:00. > :08:01.people in Roslea are discovering what it might be like to have to pay
:08:02. > :08:03.for their health care. The Southern Health Trust
:08:04. > :08:05.has denied any plans to permanently close
:08:06. > :08:07.Daisy Hill's Hospital The trust had recently warned that
:08:08. > :08:13.temporary overnight closures of the emergency department may be
:08:14. > :08:15.unavoidable because Last night, more than 800 people
:08:16. > :08:18.attended a meeting to protest about the prospect of limited
:08:19. > :08:28.opening hours. It is our intention to keep the
:08:29. > :08:35.Department open if we can do that. That is our plan. We do have to put
:08:36. > :08:42.contingency is in but it is clear that in the near future. What we are
:08:43. > :08:46.proposing to do if we thought that was likely to happen we will inform
:08:47. > :08:55.the public. Another call bentonite, with frost
:08:56. > :09:01.in places. The last of the wintry showers go away. Temperatures in
:09:02. > :09:06.rural areas will drop to freezing, maybe even just below. So there
:09:07. > :09:11.could be frost on your car when seen tomorrow morning. December melted
:09:12. > :09:16.quickly, however. A bright start, with some lovely sunshine to begin
:09:17. > :09:20.with. Most places will have a dry morning away from the far
:09:21. > :09:26.north-west. We are expecting things to cloud over at the course of the
:09:27. > :09:32.day. The cold wind will bring snow and rain showers through the day,
:09:33. > :09:38.and could be an ice brisk in the morning. In this sunshine, the wind
:09:39. > :09:42.will be just as bitter as it was today and strong and gusty. So,
:09:43. > :09:48.clouding over tomorrow afternoon. Still some brightness around, and
:09:49. > :09:54.some places will stay like largely dry. Thursday will bring some more
:09:55. > :09:59.spots of rain and again temperatures creeping up a little bit. That's the
:10:00. > :10:04.story really once the cold air moves out of the way the temptress start
:10:05. > :10:06.to move out of the way and there will be a lot of dry weather.