Northern Ireland (Regional Rates and Energy) (No. 2) Bill Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Northern Ireland Office
Jeffrey M Donaldson
Main Page: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)Department Debates - View all Jeffrey M Donaldson's debates with the Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland (Regional Rates and Energy) (No. 2) Bill
Jeffrey M Donaldson ExcerptsWednesday 6th March 2019
(5 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Northern Ireland (Regional Rates and Energy) Act 2019 Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: Committee of the Whole House Amendments as at 6 March 2019 (PDF) - (6 Mar 2019)
Karen Bradley
I will come on to the details of why the decisions have been taken, the advice that we have received from the Department for the Economy and the request that it put in. However, I assure the hon. Lady that the measures we are taking today are the only legal ways in which any subsidies can continue to be paid to anybody on the RHI scheme. Failure to do this will mean the closure of the scheme and no subsidies at all. We need to bear that in mind when looking at this matter. I well understand that people feel concerned when they have entered into an obligation in good faith and then the subsidies that they receive are reduced. I will come on to explain why that is the situation.
Sir Jeffrey M. Donaldson (Lagan Valley) (DUP)
The Secretary of State will be aware of our concern that there has been a lack of proper scrutiny of these proposals. While we await the report of the public inquiry in Northern Ireland, it may be that one of the issues on which it makes recommendations is how we scrutinise this kind of measure going forward. We would have hoped that Parliament could set an example for that, yet we are not getting that opportunity, so would she care to address that concern and the timing of this proposal, coming so close to the end of the financial year?