Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Duncan of Springbank on 19 March 2019 (HL Deb, col 1407), what discussions they have had with the Northern Ireland Executive about steps the Executive are taking to mitigate the impact of changes to the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme.

In October 2019, the Department for Economy (DFE) appointed energy expert Andrew Buglass to consider the issue of hardship relating to participants in the NI Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme (NIRHI). Mr Buglass was asked by the DfE to develop a relevant definition of hardship, investigate its presence as a result of NIRHI participation, and make recommendations to the Department on any appropriate course of action. The report of Mr Buglass has just recently been provided to the DfE and will be considered by NI Ministers in the coming weeks.