Northern Ireland's finance minister, Simon Hamilton has indicated that 20,000 public sector jobs will be cut in the region as it looks to improve its finances. This is part of the wide-reaching political agreement that was secured before Christmas which will see Belfast take control of its own corporate tax rate.

Speaking to the Stormont assembly, Mr Hamilton said that the December deal had "outlined our agreement to reduce the public-sector workforce in Northern Ireland by 20,000 posts over the next four years through a combination of measures such as a voluntary exit scheme and recruitment freezes."

Northern Ireland's total workforce is 820,000 - the public sector cuts represent 10 percent of the number employed in the region's public sector. It is hoped that the use of voluntary redundancies, and a hiring freeze will mean that employees will be forced out of their current jobs.

This measure was not widely publicised when the agreement was secured last month but it was welcomed by all of Northern Ireland's major political parties.

During his speech, Mr Hamilton added that an extra £27m (€35m) will be used to deal with the impact of welfare reform in the next financial year.

There has also been £40m (€52m) set aside for measures to deal with Northern Ireland's conflict, including funds to be used to investigate past violence and for community-building programmes.

Extra funding will also be allocated to the Department of Health, the education system, and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

Striking a deal on a budget is a key precursor for the implementation of the recent Stormont House political deal which will see the power to alter corporate tax rates being devolved to Northern Ireland. It is believe that once it can control its own rate, it will cut it from 21 percent to 12.5 percent - the current rate in the Republic of Ireland.