MINUTES of a meeting which warned of the risks of the Renewable Heat Incentive were altered because Ofgem was worried about its relationship with a UK government department, the public inquiry has heard.
The inquiry into the botched scheme, which is set to cost taxpayers £700 million over 20 years, heard that Ofgem, which was paid to administer the scheme, said RHI should not go ahead without key cost controls.
Marcus Porter, a lawyer for Ofgem, said he was not in favour of a decision to proceed and introduce cost controls later.
A lack of proper controls has meant the flawed scheme is effectively paying claimants for burning more fuel than they need.
The inquiry heard yesterday that during a conference call in June 2012 officials from the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) were warned by Ofgem of "legal risks and administrative difficulties arising from the deficiencies" in a similar British scheme.
But another Ofgem official, Keith Avis, told his senior colleague he would "revisit the text of the minutes" to reflect the warning "without overplaying the deficiencies" of the British regulations.
The minutes only refer to "logistical and presentational issues" in the British scheme.
Mr Avis told the inquiry he did not want to appear critical of the British scheme because Ofgem was also administering it on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
He said he was concerned it might compromise the relationship between Ofgem and DECC.
