THE Department of Finance (DoF) has declined to reveal what concerns poultry processor Moy Park raised with its officials during a meeting this week.
On Tuesday Sinn Féin issued a statement in which finance minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir referred to a briefing by Moy Park representatives that had "raised further issues" about the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).
Poultry farmers supplying the Brazilian-owned food giant are understood to make up a significant number of the non-domestic RHI's 1,905 claimants.
The Irish News has previously revealed that 54 per cent of the scheme's claimants are farmers and that they have received two-thirds of the £55m paid out so far.
Official documents show civil servants warned former enterprise minister Jonathan Bell in July 2015 that a surge in demand for poultry shed heating systems was rapidly driving up the cost of Stormont's botched green energy scheme.
Following the meeting with DoF officials on Tuesday, a Moy Park statement said its representatives were able "to offer insight and suggestions" based on the company's experience of energy use in poultry farming.
"Many of our contracted family-owned farms are participants within the Northern Ireland RHI scheme and as advocates of the responsible use of heat, we felt our experience could be relevant and useful in the development of a solution to secure the RHI scheme within budget," the statement said.
"We hope our contribution was of value."
A DoF spokesman said Moy Park provided an overview of the poultry sector and the role of RHI in providing a "sustainable heating source" for the sector.
"Moy Park provided some helpful insight into how the poultry industry operates and made constructive suggestions as to the future operation of the RHI scheme here," the spokesman said.
"Moy Park also endorsed the need for robust auditing of the scheme and made some helpful suggestions as to the technical expertise that could be usefully employed in this area."
The spokesman said DoF officials had written to the Department of Economy to "highlight three key concerns and issues raised by Moy Park".
