RHI: ‘a bleak page in the history of devolution’

He said the failure to candidly admit what had gone wrong was a disastrous error of political judgment by the Executive of the time.

“It is a matter of profound regret that rather than providing detailed information about the scheme’s management, that officials and Ministers chose to present it as a success. We know just how misleading those statements were now,” he said in a statement.

“In the immediate aftermath of this scandal, the SDLP presented solutions that would have allowed the maintenance of government in the North. Instead accountability was resisted and the crisis escalated resulting in three years without an Executive.

“I know that members of the ETI committee, in particular, worked hard to raise issues of concern but were frustrated by ‘incomplete and inaccurate information’ from the Department that critically inhibited our ability to fully scrutinise this runaway scheme. The Inquiry Report reflects the unacceptable situation that our committee was placed in and I agree with the recommendations that seek to ensure it is never repeated.

“There are serious lessons to be learned by the Civil Service and by those in positions of political leadership in government. If they want to earn the confidence of the public, the recommendations of the report need to be adopted in full. The reform process outlined in the New Decade, New Approach document now needs to be accelerated to secure public confidence in government and in politics. RHI is a bleak page in the history of devolution.”