Sinn Fein has said the botched Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme in Northern Ireland has had a "corrosive effect in public confidence".

The scheme could cost the public purse around £490 million.

MLA Máirtín Ó Muilleoir said Economy Minister Simon Hamilton paid little heed to his appeals throughout 2016 for the closure of the scheme.

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He said: "As DUP finance minister, Sammy Wilson, signed off on the financial shambles which is RHI.

"As DUP economy minister, Arlene Foster, removed cost controls which would have limited losses and signed off on a scheme with glaring financial flaws.

"The RHI debacle has had a corrosive effect on public confidence in the political institutions and has resulted in the squandering of tens of millions of pounds which should have gone to frontline services.

"The latest revelations only deepen public concern about the entire RHI project. It's my hope that the Public Inquiry I initiated will get to the truth of how this scandal was allowed to come about."

(CD/MH)