The Alliance Party has raised concerns over Sinn Fein's part in the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme which is set to cost the public purse around £490 million.

It was recently revealed that Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill ran a number of workshops promoting the RHI scheme and documents show 58 seminars organised by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) told potential participants of the benefits of the scheme as late as October 2015, the noted 'spike' period of applications.

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Alliance MLA Mr David Ford said the revelation calls into question Sinn Fein's knowledge of the RHI scheme.

He said: "While on the surface it may well be as simple as a Government Minister promoting a scheme from another Department, the critical issue is what Michelle O'Neill knew and when, if her Department was alerted to the flaws, and whether she knew about those flaws when the Economy Minister closed the scheme, claiming it was a victim of its own success.

"Any independent investigation into RHI needs to look at all involved, so the full facts can be established. Until they are, these questions will remain."

(CD/LM)