Debate contribution: Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (Closure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026

Debate contribution by Ms Diana Armstrong on 7 September 2026.

MLA: Ms Diana Armstrong
Party at the time: Ulster Unionist 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 5670336

Text

The initialism "RHI" has become infamous in Northern Ireland politics, but it has also become synonymous with a declining public confidence in the Assembly to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland. I am pleased to have seen that be rectified during my time on the Economy Committee. I am pleased that the scheme will finally close and that the Department carried out an holistic engagement process with our Committee and other stakeholders. I thank the Minister, Catriona Harkin and other officials for their work in bringing the scheme to this juncture, as was rightly acknowledged by the Chair and others.
This is a valuable opportunity for us to restore public trust, but we must see real monetary value in the closure, where stringent oversight remains and the system does not become vulnerable to exploitation. RHI must be a lesson in oversight of the use of public funds and in accountability. It must also be a lesson in the importance of asking difficult questions before problems emerge, as my colleague Mr Honeyford said, rather than after public money has been committed. The people we represent rightly expect every pound spent by government to be tested with the same degree of care that they apply to their own household or business finances. Public money is not an abstract figure or a departmental balance sheet; it is money raised from taxpayers that could otherwise be invested in our hospitals, schools, roads, skills and economic development. As we finally bring RHI to a close, our responsibility is to ensure that the taxpayer is protected, that genuine participants are treated fairly and, above all, that the confidence lost through this scheme is steadily rebuilt. That is the standard that the public should expect from the Assembly, and it is the standard that we must demand of ourselves. The Ulster Unionist Party is happy to support the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (Closure) Regulations, and we wish participants well with the continuing scheme.

327 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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