When reports first emerged this week that spending limits for Stormont departments were being increased, there was an initial impression that Westminster had stepped in.
As the news trickled out on Wednesday morning, it was claimed the UK government had moved to unlock more funds in the continuing absence of a power-sharing Executive.
But it soon became clear this was not the case, with the Northern Ireland Office distancing itself from the invoking of emergency powers.
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It said the use of Section 59 powers under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 was a matter for Stormont's Department of Finance.
The UK government has not intervened. Instead, this was a much more modest, technical step taken by civil servants locally to ensure public services continue to be funded.
Without a politically agreed budget, departments had been spending money authorised by MLAs in an Assembly vote in March prior to May's election.
But the level of funding authorised – 45% of last year's budget – has been running out and departments needed more cash for the remainder of the 2022-23 financial year.
The senior civil servant in the Department of Finance has legal authority in the absence of an Executive to set resource limits up to 95% of the total funding available for the year.
Permanent Secretary Neil Gibson has now exercised those legal powers to release more cash.
For most departments the limit has now been set at approximately 60% and this will be reviewed again in October.
But the process does not allow Mr Gibson to start funding new policies.
And he does not have the power to distribute £435million of Treasury funds which Stormont has been unable to allocate in the absence of a functioning Executive.
In short, there is no new money here. This is simply a temporary measure to keep the lights on, for now.
The finance department said the move provides "legal cover" for departments to continue spending on services but they "will still not have the certainty that an agreed budget would provide".
With the DUP still blocking a restoration of Stormont power-sharing in protest over Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol, huge funding pressures facing public agencies are continuing to pile up.
It emerged this week that Northern Ireland Water had warned of network capacity issues for almost 140 planning applications in Belfast in the past year.
The public company said this follows a "historic and prolonged under-investment in wastewater infrastructure", which an MLA warned is putting major building projects and much-needed housing plans at risk.
The Education Authority, responsible for delivering schooling services across Northern Ireland, is facing a potential £200million funding shortfall - including a deficit of £116m for special educational needs.
And Health Minister Robin Swann has warned Stormont colleagues he will need to overspend by £400million to continue delivering effective services.
"To live within the likely budget settlement is not feasible," he said.
"In reality it would require a set of unacceptable actions that I believe no minister could countenance.”
A restored Stormont Executive would by no means solve every problem overnight. For instance, it would still take time for ministers to reach agreement on a final budget.
But ministers returning to the table would help end much of the uncertainty that has built up in the months since Stormont has been in limbo.
In the absence of a new Executive, the UK government may well need to enter the devolved space by agreeing a budget via emergency Westminster legislation.
Reacting to this week's Stormont funding mitigations, the Northern Ireland Office said: "The people of Northern Ireland need and deserve a stable and accountable devolved government to make decisions on the things that matter most for the people of Northern Ireland."
The UK government may not have stepped into the breach this time, but no action is increasingly not an option.
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