Statement by TUV North Antrim MLA Timothy Gaston:
“The farce of today’s Executive Office Committee meeting will have left even the most ardent defender of the institutions uncomfortable.
“Before the committee even met there were serious questions about how it could go ahead given that the chair had a meeting with Ms O’Neill without any other members of the committee present at which she discussed how the meeting would progress. Confidence was hardly improved either by the fact that some members of the committee agreed to submit their questions to the Executive Office in advance.
“But even with all of that, the First Minister’s approach to the committee was to refuse to answer questions even when they self-evidently related to the duties of the Executive Office.
“None of the questions surrounding Sinn Féin’s multiple scandals were addressed. In spite of what the First Minister and the chair of the committee may claim, all my questions were related to the Ministerial Code and Ms O’Neill’s fitness to hold office.
“Frankly, the most telling upshot from today will be how many Unionists now sign the motion of no confidence which I submitted to the business office some weeks ago.
“The only people who can bring this to a head is the DUP who can remove O’Neill from office by resigning the deputy First Minister. I trust they will do so. If they don’t want to sign my motion of no confidence they should table their own.”