Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-
“Arlene Foster’s self-serving interview in the Belfast Telegraph singularly fails to address both how she came to sign off the disastrous RHI scheme and why she promoted with the banks beneficiaries profiteering at the taxpayers’ expense.
“I discern none of the humility and contrition someone so patently in the wrong should be demonstrating.
“As the one who created this mess she is hardly likely to command confidence that she is the one to clear it up. Likewise, the sound bite assurance that there will be no public loss is not compatible with the reality of the spendthrift scheme she approved.
“Any inquiry other than under the Inquiries Act 2005 is useless and designed, most likely, to provide a whitewash for those running away from a proper public inquiry with witness and document compelling powers.
“Mrs Foster is still running on this issue, but in the world of truth and probity there is little hiding place for her.”