No naming of those behind RHI Inquiry delay

On Tuesday, Sir Patrick Coghlin’s inquiry announced that his report will be published on Friday, March 13 – a year and three months after the inquiry concluded its public hearings.

Sir Patrick had consistently declined to give a date for the inquiry’s publication, making clear that his remit was vast and the subject was complex.

However, from last July the inquiry was issuing letters to witnesses who will face significant criticism in its report – signifying that the report was overwhelmingly complete from around that point.

There have been rumours of particular witnesses or organisations acting in ways which have drawn out the process since then, either by disputing the inquiry’s findings against them or by using other legal tactics which have stalled the inquiry.

None of that has been confirmed by the inquiry, which has been restrained in its public comment since oral hearings finished in December 2017.

The inquiry has been one of the most open public inquiries which has ever been held, with Sir Patrick’s team publishing tens of thousands of pages of written evidence and correspondence with witnesses or their lawyers, and holding all of their hearings in public.

When asked by the News Letter if the inquiry would publish the correspondence over recent months as part of the representation process, a spokesman for the inquiry said: “The inquiry does not intend to publish correspondence relating to the representations process.

“The inquiry recognises that there is a public appetency for the report to be published, and the inquiry has striven to complete its work as soon as possible.”

meanwhile, new Economy Minister Diane Dodds has said that RHI was always intended to supplement farmers’ income.

In comments to the Assembly committee which scrutinises her department, the DUP minister did not say whether she supported closure of the RHI scheme –even though her party has signed up to that in the New Decade, New Approach deal which restored Stormont.

Independent MLA Claire Sugden asked Mrs Dodds about the fairness of closing the scheme now in a way which will stop payments to honest claimants who were promised by Arlene Foster that their payments would never change over 20 years.

Mrs Dodds did not answer the question, but said that food and food processing had been “a great success story” for Northern Ireland’s economy and she did not want to harm it.

Northern Ireland’s largest food processor is Moy Park which was a huge indirect beneficiary of RHI, with taxpayers effectively subsidising its poultry farmers’ heating bills and the company then being able to slash the percentage of their heat bills which it had to pay.

Mrs Dodds said that the deal to restore Stormont said “we should look at closing this” and that her officials would take time to look at “all the options”.

However, the deal actually said bluntly: “RHI will be closed down and replaced by a scheme that effectively cuts carbon emissions.”