BBC One

Julian O'Neill
BBC News NI Business Correspondent

The DUP "took the public for granted" in its attitude towards the RHI scheme, Máirtín Ó Muilleoir says.

He accuses DUP leader Arlene Foster of turning "her face against" an full and transparent investigation into the scandal.

Image source, Ap

Moving on, the Sinn Féin MLA channels US First Lady Michelle Obama (above) when he says: "This is not a day for going low, this a day for going high."

He wraps up by saying the proposals before the assembly "slows the runaway train" of the RHI debacle but it will not stop the wider debacle.

Sinn Féin says it's time for an election as the deadline for nomination of executive ministers passed at 17:00.

Conor Murphy says the party had been "stretched to the limits" by the DUP.

We now await the next move from Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire, who is expected to confirm an election and possibly the date in a statement shortly.

A list of RHI scheme beneficiaries should be published now, says Sinn Féin's Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, who speaks as an MLA, not as Stormont's finance minister.

He says the plan to cut the scheme's costs is merely a "stop-gap" that "kicks the can down the road for one more year" and it is not, as the DUP suggested a "zero-cost plan".

Between now and 1 April, the RHI scheme will cost £6m, he tells the chamber.

Thomas Buchanan of the DUP is unhappy about the way that the debate is developing, saying it has "only begun and we have already seen the finger-pointing".

Mr Buchanan says there is no denying "the controversy caused throughout Northern Ireland by the RHI scheme" but says the media has "hyped" it up.

He repeats an argument made by other DUP representatives when he says: The anger from the people is not against the scheme, but is against those who are abusing the scheme and are not using it as it was intended to be used."

So, the 17:00 deadline passes and we have no appointment of a first and deputy first minister for Northern Ireland.

An assembly election will be on the cards...

Evening Extra
BBC News NI

Steve Aiken takes a pop at the "Fresh Start SF/DUP shamocracy".

The UUP MLA says that if the executive had "concentrated on good governance rather than spin" then "we would not be in the position we are in now".

The RHI scandal has "destroyed the reputation of an entire system of government", he adds, and has created "an existential threat to the very fabric of Northern Ireland".

He concludes: "The RHI scheme has become, in more ways than one, a veritable bonfire of DUP vanities."

Evening Extra
BBC News NI

Ulster Unionist Steve Aiken, who this morning acted as chair of the Economy Committee, says the RHI scheme is causing a "burden of £85,000 a day" on the Northern Ireland budget.

The cost-cutting proposals are nothing more than a "sticking plaster", he adds.

The South Antrim MLA says the Department for the Economy did not publish a list of beneficiaries of the RHI on Friday after the threat of injunction.

He asks Economy Minister Simon Hamilton to show his confidence in the mitigation measures by giving an assurance that he will stand down from public office in the event of a successful legal challenge against the proposed legislation.

Economy Minister Simon Hamilton says the business case for the draft regulations shows they represent "the best way ahead at this time".

He describes the proposed introduction of tiering for tariffs, which would see the tariff of 6.5p per kWh drop to 1.5p after the first 1,314 hours.

There would also be an annual cap of 400,000 eligible hours.

He says that as well as placing a limit on the tariff "the changes will promote behavioural change as the tiering will encourage greater attention to efficient use of heat".

BBC Newsline

Julian O'Neill
BBC News NI Business Correspondent

Economy Minister Simon Hamilton opens the debate on his proposals to reduce the additional cost to the taxpayer of the botched Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.

He says the proposals are intended to be "the first steps towards reducing the burden on the Northern Ireland budget of an estimated £490m".

He added: "I am determined to take steps which will effectively reduce the overspend in future years to zero".