Commenting after being told by the Assembly Commission that a “confidential settlement” had been reached between contractors and the Assembly Commission which means taxpayers won’t be told how much they are paying of the multimillion-pound bill Timothy Gaston said:
“This is a ridiculous situation. We are talking about public money here – potentially a huge sum – yet the public, whose money after all it is, is not permitted to know how much if any is involved in this settlement.
“The most basic duty of any public representative is the prudent use of public money. Yet here we have a situation where the Assembly Commission – on which Sinn Fein, the DUP, Alliance, UUP and SDLP all sit – has reached a backroom court settlement which the public are not permitted to know about.
“It is an outrageous and intolerable state of affairs which involves all the Executive parties and also those who laughably call themselves the “constructive” opposition.
“Stormont never had any shine since its restoration as far as unionists were concerned given that it only came back because of broken promises. However, I detect a growing sense across people from all political backgrounds and none that the Stormont establishment is a racket which while shouting about an alleged lack of funds from Westminster waste vast amounts of money within its power.
“Stormont has a moral duty to tell the people of Northern Ireland the detail about this case. The public deserves nothing less”.
Note to editors
Mr Gaston’s question and the answer received are as follows:
To ask the Assembly Commission, pursuant to AQW 25556/22-27, (i) whether the settlement covered the full costs of the roof repairs, including all expenses on experts; and (ii) whether the Assembly Commission’s outlays and legal costs were fully covered by the settlement.
The proceedings issued by the Assembly Commission in respect of defects in work carried out to the roof of Parliament Buildings were settled on confidential terms following a judge led mediation in January 2025. An agreement on costs formed part of the settlement agreement. The settlement agreement has been filed with the High Court. While the Assembly Commission is pleased to have concluded this matter the terms of the settlement do not allow any further detail to be provided.