T2. Mr Allen asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister to confirm the Executive's priorities and whether a Programme for Government will robustly measure those priorities. (AQT 362/22-27)

Absolutely. The Member will be aware that we have pushed forward with an outcomes-focused Programme for Government. Its purpose is to see the bigger picture when it comes to our objectives of having public services that deliver for people, of ensuring that what we do grows our economy and of providing a brighter, better future for everyone in Northern Ireland.

How do we do that? We must do it through the actions that we take as an Executive and in Departments. As I said earlier, we also need to ensure that what we do works, and we will know that it works only if we measure interventions. There will absolutely be a framework of indicators. Those indicators will be baselined and measured throughout the lifetime of the Programme for Government to inform us moving forward. That plays an important part and will be fully integrated into our Programme for Government.

Thank you, deputy First Minister, for that answer. I was at an event this morning in Clifton House on hidden homelessness. There is deep concern among housing providers and those involved in housing over the funding that is to be made available to the social housing development programme and the ability of the Executive to take a truly cross-departmental approach to tackling the housing crisis that is gripping Northern Ireland. Will the deputy First Minister outline how the Executive will truly get to grips with that crisis?

The Member's question highlights once again how difficult our Budget is. The Budget for this year was divided up, with approximately 50% for the Department of Health, 30% for the Department of Education and 10% for the Department of Justice. That left just 10% to be divided among the other Departments, including the Department for Communities, which takes the lead on housing.

Housing is an issue of significant concern. To some extent, we are behind some other jurisdictions on tackling the housing crisis. The Member will know from speaking to those at the event this morning — we all know from speaking to people throughout Northern Ireland and in our constituencies — that the housing crisis is already putting pressure on families. We need more social and affordable housing. We must make sure that young families and people in Northern Ireland can get on to the housing ladder and get a home. We need to take action on the issue now. It is, unfortunately, a product of the difficult Budget position, but I am acutely aware of the pressures. We will continue to seek that additional resource to ensure that we can build what we need to build.