THERE is no easy answer to why a nondescript renewable energy scheme could end up costing the Northern Ireland taxpayer almost £500m.
Rather it appears that a combination of factors created a perfect storm, which has brought down the Executive, damaged political careers and sparked a public inquiry.
The seeds were sown for failure as soon as Stormont decided to deviate from the British version of the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme by omitting cost controls.
The Northern Ireland Executive is the only regional government where energy policy is fully devolved and in hindsight such an overspend is unlikely to have been tolerated in Westminster.
The scheme was flawed, but poor management turned a departmental issue into a fullblown government crisis.
A key question remains how 984 people were able to sign up between September and November 2015, shortly before cost controls were finally introduced.
They knew something we didn’t, but who told them? Government consultations and whistleblowers had also warned of the dangers of the RHI scheme, but none were heeded by the enterprise department.
Allegations of corruption have been made, but not proven. However, even without fraud it is clear that many installations have been operating “contrary to the intention of spirit of the scheme”.
RHI was intended as a way to reduce our carbon footprint, but in reality it was seen a business opportunity that was too good to be true, with the environmental ethos ultimately negated by a lucrative incentive to burn fuel around the clock.
Unlike previous scandals such as Red Sky and Nama, ‘cash-for-ash’ has sparked unprecedented public anger and understanding.
People are outraged that their hard-earned money is going up in smoke and no-one has either accepted responsibility or been held accountable.
Definitive answers on who is to blame for RHI may come through the public inquiry, but of greater concern is whether the millions of pounds contracted to claimants can ever be clawed back and the damage caused to the powersharing institutions ever be repaired.
