This is a classic case of making small amounts of public money seem huge. ยฃ17m is about about ten pounds per person in NI. It's ten times less than what the BBC pays for the rights to show Match of the Day each year and around a quarter of the Royal Family's annual public cost.
If only there was some kind of system where everyone put in money proportionate to what they earn, and then that money could be spent on things the public need. We could call it โtaxโ!