- Official says Mrs Foster made the decision not to cap RHI payments
- Controlling costs was not her priority
Ulster Unionist Leader, Mike Nesbitt MLA, said:
“The Ulster Unionist Party has uncovered proof that First Minister Arlene Foster was responsible for the decision that will cost Northern Ireland’s public services £400 million over the next 20 years.
“At a meeting of the then Enterprise Trade & Investment Committee at Stormont, an official was questioned about the reason why Northern Ireland did not adopt the so-called Degression procedures which were applied to the GB heat incentive and could have capped the amount of public funds available for the local RHI scheme, saving the public £400 million.
“At the meeting on the 9th of February 2016, the official said Degression was discussed in the context of the Department’s intention to introduce a domestic RHI scheme. He went on to state:
“So the Minister decided that the priority should be on the introduction of the domestic RHI scheme.”
“Here for the first time is proof that Mrs Foster’s fingerprints are on the decision-making process that has resulted in the biggest financial scandal in the history of Northern Ireland.
It is time Mrs Foster stopped blaming others and embraced the age-old principle of Ministerial Responsibility. She was not only aware of what was happening, she was making it happen, through a series of policy choices that resulted in the fatally-flawed RHI.
“Remember, this was all totally unnecessary. Mrs Foster had the option to adopt the successful GB model, which had the checks and balances that would have made this scandal impossible. Degression would have meant that the greater the number of applications for RHI, the lower the tariffs would have fallen, ensuring the total spend would remain constant, no matter how many applied.
“In fact, the consultation document from July 2013 makes explicit reference to the Department’s intention to introduce Degression at some point during the lifetime of RHI. Who decided otherwise? Mrs Foster! And at what cost? £400 million, literally up in smoke.
So, now there is a smoking gun, the public will ask what is more important to Mrs Foster – her job or the reputation of the devolved institutions? We will know soon enough.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Audio of Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee on 9 February 2016 – comment can be heard at 1:33:55
https://soundcloud.com/niassembly/eti-09-february-2016