Parties at loggerheads over water scandal in North

The North’s main political parties are at loggerheads tonight over a government scandal that has forced the suspension of a top civil servant.

Controversy surrounding an inquiry into government-owned Northern Ireland Water (NIW) escalated when Sinn Féin Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy signalled his loss of confidence in his department’s Permanent Secretary, Paul Priestly, over the affair.

But while a scrutiny committee at Stormont was today prepared to reserve judgement on the minister’s role until it meets him, the DUP’s Finance Minister Sammy Wilson attacked his government partner.

An independent probe found NIW issued £28.5m (€35m) in contracts without properly tendering the work. And while Mr Murphy then sacked four board members, there have been subsequent allegations that Mr Priestly mishandled the independent inquiry.

The Assembly’s powerful Public Accounts Committee (PAC) began an investigation into the issues.

A member of the independent review team, Phoenix Gas chief executive Peter Dixon, who faced tough questioning from PAC members, subsequently wrote a letter of complaint.

And while that letter was later withdrawn, it has been claimed he received advice on writing it from Mr Priestly.

Emails allegedly written by Mr Priestly are now under scrutiny.

The senior civil servant has been suspended pending an investigation, but Mr Wilson asked if Mr Priestly was being made a scapegoat.

“This is a classic ploy, where you know that there is going to be some heat brought down because of a particular action, you try and find someone to act as a conduit for that,” Mr Wilson said.

“On the surface of it, the minister has got similar questions to answer as the permanent secretary has got to answer.”

On Tuesday, Mr Murphy said he had received information which made Mr Priestly’s position “no longer tenable”.

It was subsequently announced by head of the North's civil service Bruce Robinson that Mr Priestly was to be suspended.

Sinn Féin’s Billy Leonard today criticised the intervention of Mr Wilson.

He said Mr Murphy was tackling a culture at NIW in which public contracts were not properly tendered.

Mr Leonard also said the minister behaved correctly over Mr Priestly’s suspension: “There is no issue of scapegoating. The minister is interested in having fair play at all levels... the question of scapegoating is good for a headline, but has no substance.”

Stormont’s Regional Development committee today held the first of a series of meetings on the NIW controversy.

After a two-hour closed session, the committee chairman and Ulster Unionist representative Fred Cobain said they had confidence in the minister, but that they would be putting serious questions to him in a face-to-face meeting planned for September 1.

Mr Cobain also raised concerns the debacle could damage the reputation of the whole Assembly.

“From a personal perspective, I have always thought that is the most dangerous aspect of all of this, that the public lose confidence in this institution,” he said.

“What I am trying to reassure the public is that this committee will investigate these issues as exhaustively as we have always done.”

On the minister’s position, he added: “I don’t see where he could be described as vulnerable.

“The minister came to the committee with the independent report. He gave the committee assurances around the independent report that we agreed and supported, we supported the action that the minister took after the publication of the report.

“I haven’t heard anyone say that the issues around the procurement policy weren’t right, I haven’t heard anyone defending the procurement policies.

“And as far as I am concerned, until I see any evidence to the contrary, the minister was right in the decision he took.”

Mr Cobain said he will be meeting senior members of the PAC so they can brief each other on the issues.

The SDLP’s Conall McDevitt said: “Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy fired four members of the board of NI Water on the basis of a report from the Independent Review Team he had appointed.

“Given the events of the last few days and weeks, and particularly those which led to the suspension of departmental Permanent Secretary Paul Priestly ... there are grounds to question whether that inquiry process was truly independent.

“That will be the main focus of the committee inquiry.”