First Minister Slammed Over RHI Scheme

The SDLP has hit out at First Minster Arlene Foster over the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Scheme in Northern Ireland.

Mid Ulster MLA Patsy McGlone was speaking after a Spotlight investigation into the scandal was broadcast detailing the flaws in the scheme along with the heavy cost it carried for the public purse.

Mr McGlone described Mrs Foster's actions as "unforgivable".

He said: "It would seem this Executive, who claim we can’t afford to keep schools open or the streetlights on, have millions to spare to spend on catastrophic ministerial blunders. The next time we hear the DUP or Sinn Féin explaining why nurses cannot have a pay rise or why more houses cannot be built, remember that they are throwing away millions every year because Arlene Foster wasn’t paying attention.

"This scandal has been building for several months and credit must be given to the Comptroller and Auditor General for their work in unravelling this mess. However, the Spotlight investigation has made clear to the public just how disastrous the mismanagement was and the huge repercussions it now has for all of us.

"True to form, the First Minister feels she is above answering the difficult questions and rather than taking responsibility for her mistake, she has tried to shift the blame. Her lack of humility on this issue is breathtaking and grossly insulting to the public she has short changed.

"Arlene Foster may think that now she's in higher office that she has got away in the smoke but the buck stops with her and she can no longer evade this critical issue. Jonathan Bell must also account for his negligence while he was in charge of DETI and RHI. Together they mortgaged millions from the next generation and watched as it went up in smoke. They must answer for it."

Ulster Unionist MLA Harold McKee said: "The sheer maladministration of the RHI has left a crippling legacy on Northern Ireland's finances for the next 20 years, and given the pressures facing our schools, hospitals and support for small businesses, that is simply unforgivable.

"No matter how hard she tries to distance herself from it, Arlene Foster's fingerprints are all over this fiasco. She was the Minister in charge of the Enterprise Department when this scheme was drawn up and she was still the Minister when the scheme was introduced. In fact, Arlene Foster was still the Minister in charge at DETI when the scheme was meant to be reassessed for approval in April 2015, yet through a litany of failures this never happened.

"Given her intricate involvement in this scheme, it makes it all the more astonishing that less than six weeks ago Arlene Foster said ‘Detail is important. For someone from a legal background like myself this is a given’. Unfortunately for Northern Ireland’s finances, her supposed eye for detail appears not to have been applied to this scheme."

(CD/MH)