The SDLP is calling for the Social Development Minister to apologise to contractors for his "overstated actions" after he claimed they were overpaid £18m in maintenance contracts.

Upper Bann MLA Dolores Kelly said a resolution with the Housing Executive which will see them repay less than £1m in overpayments.

Ms Kelly said: "Now that a settlement has been reached, it is imperative that the Minister apologises for his overstated actions and words at the beginning of this fiasco. He claimed that four contractors had been over paid by £18 million when in fact the true figure was £670,000. While this remains a significant sum of money, that must be repaid quickly to restore confidence, it is a far cry from the Ministers estimate which was 27 times too high.

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"Rather than accept that his words had a detrimental impact on the reputation of the contractors involved, Minister McCausland has instead said 'It is now time to move on and to put this experience behind us'. I can assure the Minister that until he clarifies his position and issues a fulsome apology to those involved, that we cannot just move on."

(CD/JP)