RHI Inquiry: What happens on Friday? Your questions answered on the cash for ash inquiry

Who gets to see the report first?

Last week Arlene Foster told the Assembly that civil servants in the Department of Finance may be given the report as early as Thursday. A source has told the News Letter that was correct, although Sinn Fein Finance Minister Conor Murphy has said that he has asked his civil servants not to show him the report until it is published.

What do witnesses know about what is coming?

Those who will be significantly criticised by the inquiry have known for months what is coming but are bound by strict confidentiality rules. From last July, the inquiry was writing to key witnesses to inform them of at least the outline of the findings against them. Witnesses were able to make submissions to the inquiry to dispute its findings, but those submissions will not be made public.

Will the inquiry lead to anyone being jailed?

The inquiry itself is purely about establishing facts and has no power to make findings of civil or criminal liability. However, the police and prosecutorial authorities can conduct their own investigations. A witnesses’ own evidence cannot be used against them in criminal proceedings or be relied upon in deciding whether to bring such proceedings against that person.

However, that provision does not extend to documentation or other evidence obtained by the inquiry from other individuals and which points towards criminality by a witness.

What if a witness lied to the inquiry?

If anyone is to be prosecuted over the scandal, perhaps the most likely route is for a perjury-type offence or contempt proceedings – if the inquiry believes it can prove that a witness has lied. That would involve a High Court trial. Perjury-type proceedings can only be instigated by or with the consent of the director of public prosecutions for Northern Ireland and carry a sentence of up to two years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

Who paid witnesses’ legal bills?

Overwhelmingly it was the taxpayer. That will not be popular with many of the public but is based on the principle that if an individual faces legal proceedings for actions stemming from time in employment then that employer should stand behind them (just as a newspaper would pay legal bills for a reporter sued for libel). Several other witnesses have their legal bills paid for from public funds because they are private individuals who got tangled up in the story and it is judged in the public interest that they receive legal advice.

Why is the report being released on a Friday afternoon ahead of a bank holiday weekend?

Many people are cynical about the publication of such an important inquiry in a traditional slot to ‘bury bad news’. Sir Patrick Coghlin has been fiercely independent throughout and there is no suggestion that he has been steered to this time. He always made clear that he would publish the report at the earliest opportunity when it was complete rather than holding it back. One reason given for the Friday publication date is that the inquiry wanted to use Parliament Buildings. Use of the buildings is ultimately controlled by the political parties, giving them a potentially indirect role in at least the day of publication.

Why have civil servants not been disciplined?

The civil service had not completed – or in many cases, even started – disciplinary proceedings against any civil servant at the time when the public inquiry was called. The civil service argued that it would be unfair to run disciplinary proceedings in tandem in the inquiry and so therefore they were put on hold until the inquiry reports.