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RHI overspend could have reached £700m, court told

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Overspend in the botched Renewable Heat Incentive scheme could have reached £700m, the High Court has been told.

Counsel for the Stormont department which ran the flawed initiative argued that without new cost controls the bill would potentially have outstripped earlier £490m estimates.

A judge was also told 40 percent of claimants from the original scheme have now been paid more than what they invested.

More than 500 members of the Renewable Heat Association NI Ltd are challenging the decision to cut tariffs assured under the 2012 regulations.

They claim it was an unlawful step taken by the Department for the Economy.

The green energy initiative was set up to encourage businesses and other non-domestic users to move to renewable heating systems.

But with operators legitimately able to earn more cash the more fuel they burned, the cost to the public purse had been projected at up to £490 million - a figure disputed by the Association.

According to its lawyers the overspend could end up being as low as £60m.

The debacle led to the collapse of Stormont's power-sharing administration, and the establishment of a public inquiry chaired by retired judge Sir Patrick Coghlin.

On day four of the hearing Tony McGleenan QC, for the department, contested the Association's assessment of the potential bill to taxpayers.

Without the introduction of cost controls, the court heard, the bill for the scheme could has risen to £1.4bn in worst-case estimates.

He told Mr Justice Colton that the failure to include cost controls in the original scheme had been recognised by the Department as "a critical error".

But he rejected claims that boiler operators were now being treated unfairly.

The hearing continues.