Will Paula Bradshaw keep her promises on two key pledges about her controversial private meeting with the First Minister?
Weeks on from a shambolic Stormont evidence session with Michelle O’Neill, key public pledges from her would-be interrogator Paula Bradshaw over an advance private meeting have yet to materialise – if they don’t at a committee meeting later today it will fuel questions about the entire process.
The October session was supposed to scrutinise the First Minister over her party’s handling of child safeguarding issues and other scandals which have hit the party in recent months.
However, the First Minister refused to answer any questions she deemed not relevant – and a largely confused and chaotic committee struggled to respond. The chairperson Paula Bradshaw ruled questions out of order – despite legal advice stating that it was for the witness to decide whether they wanted to answer them.
The chair of the Executive Office (TEO) committee has since made two key promises about transparency over the events leading up the First Minister’s evidence session.
Firstly, Ms Bradshaw said that minutes of the controversial private meeting exist and she would release them – and secondly that the full details of an email from the First Minister requesting the meeting will be shared.
Neither has happened – and today’s meeting provides the opportunity for the promised transparency on both issues.
Where are the minutes?
Paula Bradshaw chaired the committee meant to be scrutinising the First Minister. Whatever about the rights and wrongs of the meeting – the optics of the any interrogator meeting the witness in advance have been widely criticised.
The Alliance politician has repeatedly clashed with the TUV’s Timothy Gaston over their differing approach to committee business. Mr Gaston believes the role of a scrutiny committee it is to question witnesses. But Ms Bradshaw has called his approach “badgering” and previously said she would not question a witness's “lived experience”.
Her justification for the private meeting with Ms O’Neill was the “unprecedented series of events”. She said it was to discuss how the meeting would be conducted, and that neither the content of the meeting – nor the legal advice her committee had received – were discussed.
That despite an earlier email from officials to MLAs on the committee that the legal advice would be ‘spoken to’.
The Alliance MLA also said “informal meetings” had taken place in the past and that it was “very standard practice” for committee chairs to meet with the minister. She told Mr Gaston: “To suggest that this was some sort of shady meeting, is totally disingenuous”.
Given the circumstances, it would be reasonable to assume minutes would be taken for transparency – but neither the committee chair nor her officials took any. It is not even clear whether the First Minister’s officials did. If they have, they have not yet provided them to the committee or the public. In any event, they would be their interpretation – not the committee’s.
Ms Bradshaw told the BBC Nolan Live programme that while she didn’t take the minutes somebody else did. “I am happy to share them once they’re produced, there was nothing secretive about it” she said – adding that those questioning it “don’t understand how the relationship” between herself and a minister works.
Perhaps minutes will be presented at today’s meeting. If not, it may be difficult for the chair to explain away given her public statements.
Where is the full email from Michelle O’Neill?
Timothy Gaston, who has been the only committee member to pursue these issues, has argued that the timeline and the details of the First Minister’s request to meet the chair are important.
Michelle O’Neill wanted the meeting to discuss legal advice. That advice was then repeatedly cited by the Sinn Fein politician as justification for not answering questions.
The timing of her request is unclear because those details were removed when it was presented to MLAs. Committee members were only informed of the meeting ten minutes in advance, and Mr Gaston wants to know when the request came in – to see if the ten minute window adds up. He has asked for the full email, with dates, times and email addresses included.
Ms Bradshaw has committed to publishing the email “in its entirety” to MLAs.
Neither the Executive Office nor the Assembly has made clear whether it was sent from an official TEO email address or a Sinn Fein one. Given the First Minister’s stonewalling of questions was based on that fact that she was there as First Minister and not as a SF politician, any meeting organised with Ms Bradshaw by Sinn Fein would raise further questions about the nature of the meeting.
The TEO committee meets on Wednesday afternoon.