Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
DUP and SF spads ‘broke key protocol on conduct’
POWERFUL DUP and Sinn Fein ministerial special advisers “breached” a law designed to govern their behaviour, the RHI public inquiry found.
Signing a letter of appointment camouflaged “complete failure” to comply with the appointment code, the report added.
A key purpose of the mandatory protocol was to ensure rapport and trust existed between minister and adviser.
In reality they were more directly responsible to their party commands, the Sir Patrick Coghlin’s probe found.
It said: “The inquiry finds the practices adopted by the DUP and Sinn Fein in centralising the appointment, control and management of Spads effectively frustrated that purpose of the democratically-enacted legislation.
“As a consequence, some Spads wielded very significant power and were encouraged to see themselves as more directly responsible to the central authority of Office of the First Minister and Deputy First
Minister and their political parties than to individual ministers.”
It outlined the appointment of an adviser to the responsible minister at the time the RHI overspend was becoming clear.
The inquiry found no objective evidence to support Energy Minister Jonathan Bell’s allegation his adviser Tim Cairns intervened to keep RHI matters off the agenda at meetings.
It did note difficult relations between the pair and questioned how Mr Cairns was appointed.
It said it was clear from the evidence that Sinn Fein and the DUP “breached the spirit and/or provisions” of the 2013 Act of the Assembly designed to regulate special advisers.
Letters of appointment were drafted by civil servants under intense workload pressure and with limited resources.
The inquiry also highlighted concerns about Arlene Foster’s working arrangements with her then spad Dr Andrew Crawford.