RHI INQUIRY, DAY TWO FOSTER PUSHED FOR LAUNCH IN SPITE OF CONCERNS, CLAIMS QC
ARLENE Foster told officials to launch a botched green energy scheme “without delay” despite expert advice to the contrary, day two of the public inquiry into the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) has heard.
The scheme was supposed to encourage businesses to ditch fossil fuels for more eco-friendly alternatives.
But a lack of proper cost controls means the public purse may be landed with a £700 million bill over 20 years.
DUP leader Arlene Foster was the Enterprise Minister in 2012 when the scheme was implemented.
Yesterday the inquiry’s senior counsel, David Scoffield QC, read out a memo of a teleconference on June 26, 2012, between officials in the Department of Enterprise (DETI) and Ofgem — the energy regulator tasked with administering the RHI scheme in Northern Ireland.
During the call, DETI officials allegedly said Mrs Foster wanted the scheme launched straight away despite concerns from experts that the proper cost controls weren’t in place.
The official arrangements on RHI were not agreed for a full eight weeks after the scheme was launched in December 2012, Mr Scoffield said.
He added that DETI officials had apparently promised to review the Northern Ireland cost controls in the summer of 2013, comparing notes with a similar scheme in Britain, but this never happened.
Mr Scoffield said he believed the teleconference memo was accurate, but would have to be confirmed by the inquiry.
Furthermore, he said it was vital to find out how Mrs Foster’s apparent wish to speed up the scheme was communicated to DETI officials.
He explained: “Was that on the basis of discussions with the minister, with her special adviser, and in that case are there any notes or written records of those discussions?”
Strained relations between Ofgem and DETI officials were among the other issues raised yesterday.
A key question was whether DETI had handed over too much control to Ofgem, despite paying for the scheme.
A 2013 Ofgem report revealed some “candid” observations about working with DETI, Mr Scoffield said.
The report said Ofgem had built up a good relationship with DETI despite a difficult start.
But one frustrated Ofgem employee was reported to have said: “Bloody hell, given the headaches we’ve had I would be reluctant to take on anything else for them.”
Mr Scoffield said the inquiry would want to consider if this represented a wider view or was just a casual observation.
Other points of contention between Ofgem and DETI were said to be the sharing of confidential information, and a heated disagreement over how much Ofgem should be paid for running the scheme.