Summary

  • Renewable Heat Incentive Inquiry examining botched energy scheme

  • SDLP MLA and ex-Stormont committee chair Patsy McGlone faces inquiry

  • Timothy Johnston - DUP boss and adviser to Arlene Foster - gives evidence

  • Inquiry set up after public concern over scheme's huge projected overspend

  • Retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Patrick Coghlin chairing inquiry at Stormont

  • Public hearings in critical phase with high-profile witnesses giving evidence

Live Reporting

Iain McDowell and Robin Sheeran

  1. RHI scheme - the flaws

    The budget of the RHI scheme ran out of control because of critical flaws in the way the initiative was set up.

    Claimants could effectively earn more money the more fuel they burned because the subsidies on offer for renewable fuels were far greater than the cost of the fuels themselves.

    Burning £20 notes

    At one point the estimate for the overspend was set at £700m if permanent cost controls weren't introduced - temporary cuts have since pulled the budget back on track for now.

    Whatever the scale of the bill, it will have to be picked up by the Northern Ireland taxpayer.

  2. RHI scheme - what was it?

    The Renewable Heat Incentive scheme - or RHI for short - came to the fore of the Northern Ireland public's knowledge in late 2016.

    The fallout from the scandal attached to it is still being felt in the region's politics today.

    A biomass boilerGetty Images

    The scheme was set up by the Northern Ireland Executive in 2012 as a way of encouraging businesses to switch from using fossil fuels to renewable sources for generating their heat.

    Those who signed up were offered financial incentives to buy new heating systems and the fuel to run them.

  3. Good morning

    Welcome to Stormont for day 99 of the Renewable Heat Incentive Inquiry.

    Some people may still be picking through the bones of yesterday's extraordinary testimony from Michael Doran of Action Renewables but the inquiry marches on today with return visits from two major witnesses.

    Stormont's Parliament Buildings

    This morning it'll hear from SDLP MLA Patsy McGlone, who chaired the Northern Ireland Assembly's Enterprise Committee.

    This afternoon, the Democratic Unionist Party's (DUP) chief executive Timothy Johnston, who was Arlene Foster's adviser when she was first minister, will be answering more questions.

    The proceedings start in a few minutes - stay with us for live video and text reporting of the important bits.