FIRST Minister Peter Robinson is expected to be grilled about potential breaches of Stormont's ministerial code over a failure to declare his son's part in organising Carl Frampton's recent world title fight.
Justice minister David Ford has voiced concern over questions tabled by Mr Robinson at an executive meeting, during which the DUP leader asked about policing costs for such events.
The Alliance leader spoke of his "surprise" after The Irish News revealed that the DUP leader's son and former Castlereagh councillor Gareth Robinson was part of the team behind the sell-out Titanic Showdown.
Last month's super bantamweight boxing bout was organised by Barry McGuigan's Cyclone Promotions, with ringside seats at the 16,000 capacity event costing £750.
A number of MLAs have since criticised the process under which £300,000 of public money was awarded to Mr McGuigan's company.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (Deti) committed £150,000 through the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Tourism Ireland.
The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure provided £100,000, while Belfast City Council gave the promoter £50,000.
Mr Robinson has insisted he was not lobbied by his son for funds for the world title fight.
But in a letter to his executive colleagues, leaked to the BBC yesterday, the justice minister has claimed the DUP leader should have declared an interest over his son's role.
The Alliance leader is understood to be concerned about potential breaches of the ministerial code.
The code states that ministers must avoid "placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work".
"They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends," it adds.
"They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships."
Mr Ford was not commenting on the matter yesterday. However, an Alliance party spokesman said politicians declaring interests was important to protect the public from abuses of power and position.
"One of the jobs of the chair of any committee is to ensure that members make appropriate declarations of interest -- so the first minister, of all people, should have been mindful of this when he raised the issue of charging for policing of commercial events" the spokesman said.
"It was not necessarily wrong of him to raise it, but the ministerial code and the standards of public life make clear that he should have declared an interest."
The first minister rejected the suggestion that he should have declared an interest.
He said the questions to the executive related to the general policy of police charging for events.
"There was no suggestion whatsoever at any time of an attempt to influence decisions pertaining to the IBF (International Boxing Federation) event in Belfast," the DUP leader said.
"Rather this was merely the catalyst for the discussion. No conflict could therefore have arisen."
SDLP enterprise committee member Fearghal McKinney last night said Mr Robinson should publish his diary as well as details of any correspondence or meetings he had in relation to the matter.
"That is the very minimum we need in order to establish transparency and determine what approaches, if any, were made to the first minister on this issue," he said.
In the days running up to last month's IBF bout, the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister was approached by representatives of the promoter seeking government support.
The head of the civil service, Malcolm McKibbin, asked Deti to look at ways of supporting the IBF super bantamweight bout, for which television rights were sold to 120 countries.
Both Gareth Robinson and Cyclone Promotions have refused to answer questions about the exact part the DUP leader's son played in the event organisation.
Last month The Irish News made several efforts to contact Gareth Robinson and paid a visit to the address in Belfast city centre where his Verbatim Communications firm is registered. The office was unmanned and there was nothing to indicate it was the base for the company.
Notably for a firm that is understood to operate in the public relations and lobbying sector, Verbatim also has no website or any contact details online.
Mr Robinson is not a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations or affiliated to the Association of Professional Political Consultants, the lobby industry's representative body.