Due to the potential for a resolution, a three-week adjournment was sought.
Opposing the application, Mr Macdonald argued that a mandatory order should be made now “requiring the Executive Office to do what they should have done this time last year”.
He insisted: “These discussions, in one form or another, have been going on since October 2019 when the legislation came into force.
“The obligation to make the payments was in force last year.”
However, a barrister representing the Executive Office said there was a “misunderstanding” about the extent of funding available to his client.
“The position has always been that the Executive Office will fund the scheme when it has the money. It doesn’t have the money,” Philip McAteer said.