Foster under pressure over heating plan that may cost £400m

The Democratic Unionist has rejected charges that Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster should quit over errors that could cost the Northern Executive hundreds of millions of pounds over the next 20 years.

During her time in charge of the Department of Enterprise Trade and Industry, it approved rules for a renewable heating scheme, but failed to put in place caps on the revenues that people could receive.

The renewable heat incentive scheme has been criticised by the Northern Ireland Audit Office and also is being investigated by the Stormont Public Accounts Committee.

Under the scheme, which ceased earlier this year, farmers, factories and business were encouraged to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy, such as wood-burning boilers.

Meanwhile, they were promised a 20-year-long subsidy that exceeded the actual costs, but this encouraged some people to heat unoccupied farm buildings – even during the summer – to maximise returns.

The Northern Executive failed to put a cap on usage, unlike the rules put in place in England. The subsidies could cost the taxpayer £400 million (€469 million) and possibly more over the next 20 years.

Saying that it was "the biggest financial foul-up in the history of the country", Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt called on the DUP leader to step down as First Minister.

“We will be paying for this for the next 20 years so there are children not yet born who will become mothers and fathers before this debt is paid off,” the UUP leader declared.

Whistleblower

A whistleblower raised the alarm with Ms Foster in late 2013, who told her officials to look into it. However, the scheme was not cancelled until early this year after a huge increase in applications.

In an email, obtained by BBC TV's Spotlight, the whistleblower said: "What we are seeing on the ground in NI is that buildings are using more energy than before because it pays them to do so."

Building owners were being paid a flat rate, which meant “there is no incentive at all to be efficient, so the heat in buildings is on all year round, with the windows open everywhere”, the whistleblower warned.

Defending herself, Ms Foster said the chief civil servant in the Department for the Economy, the new name for the Department of Enterprise Trade and Industry, said she had dealt with the whistleblower “entirely appropriately”.

However, the First Minister acknowledged that the investigations “should have highlighted the failings of the scheme and actions should have been taken”.

Describing it as “a scandal”, the UUP leader Mr Nesbitt said it was “up there with Nama” and that consequently if Ms Foster believed in ministerial accountability, she should “consider her position”.

“What is now in the public domain proves hundreds of millions of pounds were wasted needlessly, the department was dysfunctional, unaware of the rules, and hapless in seeking solutions,” he said.

SDLP MLA Mr Patsy McGlone said voters would reject future spending warnings from the DUP and Sinn Féin, but they “will remember that they are throwing away millions every year because Arlene Foster wasn’t paying attention”.

Ms Foster currently is on a trade mission to China. The Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness did not travel “due to unforeseen personal circumstances”.

Rejecting criticism, Minister for the Economy, DUP MLA Simon Hamilton, said officials were seeking to address abuses and to ensure "that any possible fraud cases are dealt with rigorously".