RHI Inquiry: Recommendations ‘unlikely’ to be fully implemented

Ms Carville said the lack of progress was concerning.

“The inquiry’s findings demonstrated the significant learning and improvement that was needed from the NI Civil Service to rebuild public confidence,” she said.

“Four years on, a significant number of recommendations have yet to be fully implemented, and, in our assessment, several are unlikely to be properly addressed by the actions currently planned.”

The NIAO disagreed with the Department of Finance’s assessment of progress in 10 of the recommendations, saying half of them would not be fully implemented even if given further time and the other half had not reached the required threshold yet.

Ms Carville also said it was vital there was appropriate oversight going forward, highlighting that a Stormont Executive subcommittee—previously established for this purpose—last met in December 2020 and no equivalent subcommittee had been constituted since the executive was restored in February.

“As a result, this report calls on the Department of Finance to explore suitable oversight mechanisms for the remaining recommendations—both those of the inquiry and those in today’s report,” she said.

The NIAO periodically reviews progress on implementing the lessons learned from the RHI Scheme.

There are 44 recommendations, of which 42 were examined in this review by the NIAO.