Proposals from Economy Minister Simon Hamilton to cut the cost of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) to the NI block grant have been sent to the Department of Finance for approval.

In a statement, Finance Minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir said that he was “pleased” that the department had received a cost-cutting plan, but added that a “botched” solution to the overspend would not be agreed.

“I have therefore tasked my top economists, legal advisers and accountants to conduct a thorough and professional assessment of the proposals before reporting back to me with their recommendations,” he said.

It is understood that the plan involves cutting the rate of tariffs to approximately 1,800 users of the non-domestic RHI.

The BBC has reported that the Minister Hamilton’s proposals include moving all non-domestic RHI users that joined the scheme before November 2015 to the tiered and capped rates that are paid to users who joined in the three months before the scheme closed in February 2016.

This would be a temporary cost-cutting solution for one year before a formal consultation is launched on permanent changes to the scheme, according to the BBC.

Legislation

It is understood that changes to the RHI scheme would require a vote in the Assembly amid the ongoing political crisis at Stormont following the resignation of Deputy First Minister Martin McGuiness on Monday.

However, efforts continue to get Sinn Féin and the DUP to enter talks to stop the Institutions from collapsing and it appears that various other issues that added to political tensions between the two parties are trying to be addressed.

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