• Don’t save £400m by blocking access to £660m
• We will not support a political fix designed simply to save FM’s blushes

The Ulster Unionist Party has reacted with caution to the apparent desire by the Northern Ireland Executive to close the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.

Party Leader, Mike Nesbitt MLA said:

“What we need is a fix that is ethical, fair to the many legitimate users of RHI, fair to the taxpayer, and acceptable to Her Majesty’s Treasury.

“What we will not support is a political fix, designed primarily to save the blushes of Mrs Foster, by making what she herself calls the RHI “debacle” go away. The idea of closure being floated by the Finance and Economy Ministers raises far too many unanswered questions to warrant support without significant detail.

“The prime concern is that HM Treasury have allocated £660 million for Northern Ireland to promote renewable heating. If the scheme closes, logic says this will be lost. Why should the people of Northern Ireland be denied access to over £600 million of government money because Mrs Foster cannot manage her Department? We are seeking urgent clarification from Treasury on the status of the £660 million.

“Beyond that, we need to know how closure would work, at what cost, saving how much, and how the Executive would avoid being sued for breach of contract.

“Our alternative is to fix the problem, introduce the sort of cost controls in the successful GB RHI scheme, thus protecting access to the £660 million, and ask Westminster to pass a Windfall Tax to ensure the £400 million overspend commitment is cancelled out. There are precedents for this, not least in 1981 when Mrs Thatcher recouped £400 million from the banks through a Windfall Tax.

“There is a real danger here that in rushing to close a botched scheme that currently stands to cost the people of Northern Ireland £400 million, the Executive could cut the people off from access to £660 million. That would not be the best way forward.”