Opposition leader challenges minister on records after inquiry revelations

Stormont Opposition leader Matthew O’Toole has challenged the Finance Minister on record keeping in departments following revelations from the Covid-19 Inquiry.

The UK inquiry opened three weeks’ of hearings in Northern Ireland last week, during which it heard that devices belonging to some ministers were reset, as well as apparent confusion and delay in the supply of minutes from a key Executive meeting in July 2020.

During questions for the Finance department at the Assembly on Tuesday, Mr O’Toole asked minister Caoimhe Archibald what action she will take to secure the integrity of Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) and Executive communications, and address “serious issues that have emerged during the initial stages of the inquiry”.

Stormont Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald answer questions during question time for her department in the Northern Ireland Assembly on Tuesday (NI Assembly/PA)

Referring to the RHI Inquiry recommendations, Mr O’Toole said it was “astounding in these circumstances” that the Department of Finance “awarded itself a green rating in compliance with a recommendation on record keeping in March 2024”.

Meanwhile, Mr O’Toole has also called for an investigation into message deletion policy in the Northern Ireland Civil Service.

Ms Archibald responded by saying she did not want to get into a “running commentary about specific evidence” while the inquiry is ongoing.

“That was obviously a very challenging time for everyone in society, but particularly traumatic to those people who lost loved ones, and I fully support the work of the inquiry and hope that it will help those people come to terms with the devastating impact that it had on their lives,” she said.

“Budgets and resources have been reprioritised within my department to meet our statutory responsibilities to the inquiry and I do believe it is important that we learn lessons from the events examined to make sure we are better prepared for and can respond to a similar global health emergency should it ever arrive in the future.”

Ms Archibald added that her department developed new guidance for NICS in June 2022 for official information held in non-corporate communication channels, which will be translated into policy and disseminated across departments by May 31 2024.