Debate contribution: Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (Closure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026
Debate contribution by Ms Sinéad McLaughlin on .
- MLA
- Ms Sinéad McLaughlin
- Party at the time
- Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Date
- 7 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (Closure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5670326
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The SDLP welcomes the fact that we have finally reached the point at which the RHI scheme can be closed. It has taken far too long — that needs to be said again and again — but the regulations allow us to draw a line under a scheme that has cast a long shadow over government in this place. We recognise the work that has gone into getting the closure arrangements right, and I endorse the praise that the Chair gave to the officials for getting us to this stage. The tariffs that underpin the payments have been independently verified by Professor David Rooney. That independent scrutiny is really important. We need an outcome that is fair to those who participated in good faith but also protects the public purse. Balance and scrutiny were so badly missing when the RHI scheme was established, and it exposed some of the worst failings of government in Northern Ireland. There were failures by elected representatives and serious failures in the Civil Service. There was poor scrutiny, inadequate record-keeping, a failure to challenge decisions and, ultimately, a real failure of accountability.
The question for us today is whether we have genuinely learned from that. To be honest, I am not convinced that we have. The Audit Office has continued to raise concerns about the implementation of the recommendations that followed the RHI inquiry. Incredibly, it found that progress on record-keeping had regressed. We cannot allow ourselves to forget that as we close the scheme, but, equally, we cannot allow the failures of RHI to become an excuse for paralysis when it comes to renewable energy. The SDLP wants to see any money being released from the closure of this scheme being used to support a new green energy scheme with proper standards, safeguards, scrutiny and value for money built in from the beginning. The answer to a badly designed renewable energy scheme cannot simply be to stop developing renewable energy schemes, and that is particularly important as we look at the wider energy portfolio. Progress from the Department has been painfully slow. Tomorrow, we will, finally, debate the Renewable Electricity Generation Bill at Second Stage. We welcome that progress, but that legislation has been delayed repeatedly. Every delay has added to the uncertainty facing renewable energy investors at precisely the time when we should be giving them confidence to invest here. We have enormous renewable energy potential, particularly in my constituency. However, potential on its own does not cut bills, does not create jobs and does not deliver energy security. It requires government to actually deliver. I welcome the closure of RHI, but closing the scheme cannot mean closing the book on what has happened. If we are serious about developing renewable energy, attracting investment and decarbonising the economy, we have to prove that we have learnt from RHI. That means moving much faster than we have done and ensuring that proper scrutiny and the safeguards and accountability are there from day 1. That is how we will make sure that the legacy of RHI is not paralysis but better government. We support the closure.
521 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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