MLAs have 'set a very bad precedent' by sending First Minister questions in advance - Mike Nesbitt
Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt says he would never have submitted written questions in advance to a minister appearing as a witness at a Stormont committee – saying “a very bad precedent” has been set.
His comments come amid an escalating row over how the Executive Office (TEO) committee has handled its attempts to question First Minister Michelle O’Neill over a series of scandals engulfing Sinn Fein.
Despite initial denials, MLAs on the committee sent seven specific questions to the minister ahead of her appearance, on the advice of officials.
It has been explained as a bid to hurry the process along and to justify recalling Ms O’Neill just a few weeks after her last evidence session.
The UUP leader – who chaired the TEO committee for five years – criticised the decision to send questions in advance in an interview on the BBC Nolan Show.
Asked if he would have done that, he said “No. We would never have have done that”.
The health minister said he thought it was inappropriate. “When the ministers came, no, there were no kind of advanced warning, but they've got they've got special advisors, they've got officials. They can guess pretty much what the committee is going to be interested in”.
He said a precedent had now been set and described it as a “very, very bad precedent”.
In reference to a private meeting between current TEO committee chair Paula Bradshaw and Michelle O’Neill in advance of the first minister giving evidence, Mr Nesbitt said “I don't believe I ever moved without consulting the committee first”.
He added: “there was one occasion when we were having difficulty getting information out of the department, and what we agreed in advance was that I would go and speak to Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness, the then first and deputy First Minister, because we were considering using our legal powers to compel them to come and appear before us, which is a very serious kind of escalation.
“So with the agreement of the entire committee, the unanimous agreement, that's the only time I ever spoke outside of the committee room with FM”.