·         £400 million scandalous overspend on RHI scheme

·         Why did Foster not take action when Finance Minister?

·         Did Arlene Foster hide the truth for the sake of her own reputation?

Ulster Unionist MLA, Roy Beggs has questioned why Arlene Foster did not seek to minimise the £400 million additional cost of the botched RHI scheme when she was Finance Minister.

The East Antrim MLA said:

“Whilst it is welcome that the current Finance Minister and the Economy Minister are discussing how to minimise the scandalous £400m additional cost of the Renewable Heat Incentive, this begs the question why Arlene Foster did not take similar action more than 18 months earlier when she was Finance Minister.

"Alarm bells about the Renewable Heat Incentive have been ringing for some time, with an email from a whistle-blower outlining concerns in 2013. Arlene Foster when DETI Minister took the policy decision to copy the GB Scheme minus the cost protections, a mistake which our schools, roads and hospitals will undoubtedly suffer the consequences of. 

“In May 2015 she became Finance Minister, knowing the details behind the scheme why did she not engage with her counterpart in DETI, Jonathan Bell some 20 months ago? 

“Was she trying to put distance between herself and the scheme? Or, did she conveniently avoid publicly disclosing the hundreds of millions of liabilities that have occurred and could have interrupted her coronation as First Minister?  

“Or, was she avoiding the disclosure of wasting hundreds of millions of pounds during the run up to the Assembly Elections?

“Having previously boasted that ‘detail is important’, Arlene Foster appeared unwilling to share these details with her Executive colleagues.

“The time has come for her to accept responsibility and stand aside while an independent, judicial inquiry can get to the truth of all that has gone awry with the RHI scheme.”

ENDS