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Arlene Foster and RHI

Arlene Foster was Enterprise Minister when the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme was introduced in November 2012. Picture by Niall Carson/PA Wire
Arlene Foster was Enterprise Minister when the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme was introduced in November 2012. Picture by Niall Carson/PA Wire Arlene Foster was Enterprise Minister when the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme was introduced in November 2012. Picture by Niall Carson/PA Wire

AS the Stormont minister responsible for introducing RHI, Arlene Foster is a key figure in the cash-for-ash scandal.

The DUP leader has described the flaws in the Renewable Heat Incentive as her “deepest political regret” and said she accepts responsibility for the work of her department.

However, she remained defiant in the face of calls for her to stand aside as First Minister over what has been described as the biggest public finance scandal under devolution, leading to the collapse of the Executive.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, with Mrs Foster at its helm, was first alerted to the possible dangers of RHI before the scheme even became law.

In a 2011 consultation 13 respondents raised concerns over the possibility of 'over-incentivisation'.

In September 2013, 10 months after the non-domestic scheme was brought in, a whistleblower emailed Arlene Foster raising concerns about the scheme being abused.

A meeting was subsequently held with officials, with the DUP later saying the concerns raised "were not taken sufficiently seriously" by the department.

In September 2014 the whistleblower sent a follow-up email alleging that the scheme was being financially abused. She would later bemoan that her concerns were “swept under the carpet”

Yet more warnings came after a second DETI consultation, with green energy consortium Biomass Energy Northern Ireland (BENI) stating in October 2013 that previous abuses they had warned against were now "very apparent" on the ground. Again no action was taken.

A potential opportunity to identify flaws in the scheme was also lost when “administrative oversight” and changes in staff meant DETI did not seek re-approval from the Department of Finance for RHI in April 2015.

Mrs Foster would leave the department the following month to take over as Minister for Finance and Personnel.

However, in Jonathan's Bell's BBC interview in December last year he claimed a "highly agitated and angry" Mrs Foster demanded he keep RHI open for an extra fortnight in January 2016 despite its huge losses. He also alleged that two special advisers tried to "cleanse the record" of references to Mrs Foster.

The DUP leader has rejected the claims, saying she has "done thing wrong."

Asked by The Irish News Political Correspondent John Manley last October about her oversight of RHI, Mrs Foster said it was "developed by officials in a way that shouldn't have been developed by officials".

"I hope you're not suggesting I get to see every single jot and tittle that goes on in every ministerial department," she said.

"Ministers do not get to see that level of detail as you well know. We get to see the overall policy in terms of those renewable schemes."

She said in a statement to the assembly in December that she "accepts responsibility for the work of the department during my time at DETI", but no-one in government or in the assembly picked up on the RHI failings in creating and passing the legislation.

She added: "At no time during my period as minister were any recommendations made to me to introduce cost controls, nor were there any warning signs that spending on this scheme was spiralling out of control."