Cash for ash inquiry: Errors and omissions to blame – not corruption

DUP leader Arlene Foster has been criticised for signing off on a botched green energy scheme that caused the collapse of Northern Ireland’s devolved government.

A report into the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), published on Friday, found the scheme was a “project too far” for the Northern Irish government and should never have been adopted.

The public inquiry was directly critical of Mrs Foster but found no evidence of “corrupt or malicious” activity.

Mrs Foster was Northern Ireland’s enterprise minister when the scheme was launched, providing an incentive for people to make the switch to renewable heat sources.

But the scheme threatened to overspend by millions of pounds. It was designed to encourage businesses to burn more sustainable fuels like wood but flaws in its design meant it cost more than originally intended.

Applicants were “perversely incentivised” to switch to eco-friendly boilers by paying them a subsidy for the wood pellet fuel needed to run them. Mistakes in its design saw the subsidy rates set higher than the actual cost of the wood pellets, which saw applicants able to burn and earn.

When it came to light that the costs were spiralling out of control, Mrs Foster, by then first minister, refused to step down from office.

The late Martin McGuinness felt he had little option but to call time on power-sharing and resign as deputy first minister, collapsing the devolved government.

The botched scheme was estimated to have cost taxpayers £490m but participants claim cuts to the subsidy mean there will now be an underspend.

The inquiry, chaired by retired judge Sir Patrick Coghlin, criticised Mrs Foster and highlighted “unacceptable behaviour” by several of her party’s advisers but said it would be wrong to blame specific individuals or groups for the design flaws.

Sir Patrick said responsibility should be shared among a wide range of people and public bodies. The report was particularly critical of the Department for Enterprise, Trade and investment (DETI), which was in charge of the scheme.

The report stated: “Corrupt or malicious activity on the part of officials, ministers or special advisers was not the cause of what went wrong with the NI RHI scheme, albeit the inquiry has identified some instances where behaviour was unacceptable.

“Rather the vast majority of what went wrong was due to an accumulation an compounding of error and omissions over time and a failure of attention, on the part of all those involved in their differing roles to identify the existence, significance or implications of those errors and omissions.”

It added: “Responsibility for what went wrong lay not just with one individual or group but with abroad range of persons and organisations involved, across a variety of areas relating to the design, approval, management and administration of the NI RHI scheme through its life.”

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In a statement, Mrs Foster said there were “many things that could and should have been handled in a very different way” and that the “unalterable truth is that none of us can change or relive that which has already happened”.

“I welcome the publication of the Renewable Heat Incentive Inquiry report,” she said. “The report follows a lengthy inquiry into every aspect of the scheme and I trust it will be foundational as we seek to rebuild public trust.

“For my part I am determined to learn from my mistakes and to work to ensure that the mistakes and systematic failures of the past are not repeated.”

Sky’s Senior Ireland Correspondent David Blevins said despite Mrs Foster being heavily criticised – both directly and indirectly – she is likely to survive as DUP leader and First Minister.

He said: “The fact that blame has been apportioned widely and that the Inquiry has found no evidence of corrupt or malicious activity is hugely significant for her.

“In fact, the new power-sharing government faces a greater threat today from the First Minister and deputy First Minister adopting different positions on measures to tackle COVID-19.”

(c) Sky News 2020: Cash for ash inquiry: Errors and omissions to blame – not corruption