Ulster Unionist Finance Spokesperson Dr Steve Aiken MLA said:

“The findings contained within this report are damning, if not entirely unexpected.

“It confirms once and for all that the original RHI scheme not only incentivised the burning of material, but unquestionably resulted in the generation of additional and unnecessary heat.

“Many people will be shocked that in the space of only a year the amount of heat being generated has plunged by a third.

“It is perverse that a Government promoted and subsidised scheme which was meant to act as a policy instrument to increase uptake in renewable energy, actually saw the generation of so much superfluous heat. Instead of a green scheme, it was disastrous for our environment.

“I am also very concerned about the findings so far from the Department’s new inspection process - which has involved 33 sites and 65 installations. It is incredible that not a single one of these installations were deemed to be good - instead nearly 90% have been found to be either weak or unsatisfactory when measured against the scheme regulations and guidance. The fact that Ofgem also carried out audits on a further 30 installations and identified issues in 24 of them shows systemic flaws with the installations and how the scheme has been operating to date.

“Problems with the scheme could have been identified and rectified early-on. The ongoing RHI inquiry has already exposed fundamental failures at the heart of Government and identified matters of grave public concern regarding the activities of individuals at the centre of the RHI scheme. I suspect there will be much more to come in the autumn.”