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Adams says Foster should temporarily step aside as 'gesture towards citizens' in the North

The Sinn Féin President says he is not suggesting Arlene Foster is guilty of anything. Ger...
Newstalk
Newstalk

17.44 20 Dec 2016


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Adams says Foster should tempo...

Adams says Foster should temporarily step aside as 'gesture towards citizens' in the North

Newstalk
Newstalk

17.44 20 Dec 2016


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The Sinn Féin President says he is not suggesting Arlene Foster is guilty of anything.

Gerry Adams has again called on the North's First Minister to temporarily step aside while an investigation is conducted into the so-called 'Cash for Ash' scandal.

The Renewable Heat Incentive, launched by Mrs Foster when she was enterprise minister, offered subsidies to businesses switching to greener fuel.

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When some were found to be heating empty warehouses, it emerged a lack of cost controls meant the more they burned, the more they earned from the public purse.

Ms Foster survived a vote of no confidence yesterday - but only after opposition parties walked out of the Assembly before she made a statement.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness says he will not back the statement of the joint leader of the power-sharing executive because her proposal for an investigation into the scheme she introduced as Enterprise Minister does not go far enough.

Ms Foster's Democratic Unionist Party has insisted that the First Minister will not be stepping aside.

Speaking in Dublin today, Deputy Adams said the claims that the Northern taxpayer lost as much as £400 million (€477m) needs investigation.

"We're simply saying as a gesture towards citizens there, that [Ms Foster] stand to one side until there's a preliminary report back from that investigation," he said.

 


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