A TUV MLA has expressed concern after it emerged the chairwoman of the Stormont Executive Office committee met First Minister Michelle O’Neill before her appearance before the committee.
Ms O’Neill attended the committee on Wednesday afternoon amid concerns around the handling of recent controversies within Sinn Fein.
Members of the Executive Committee received an email from the committee clerk to inform them that Paula Bradshaw and Ms O’Neill would meet on Wednesday morning before the committee meeting.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill (Liam McBurney/PA)
TUV MLA Timothy Gaston claimed this meeting “compromised” the committee’s meeting, and claimed no approval had been sought from the committee.
“In light of the chairperson meeting with the witness, Ms Bradshaw’s position to chair today’s meeting has been compromised,” he said.
“It is untenable that someone who, behind the back of the committee compromised her ability to act as an impartial chair, should oversee today’s proceedings.”
However, Ms Bradshaw said the meeting had been “very standard practice” for her as a committee chair to meet the relevant minister.
“There is no issue,” she stressed.
“It was not a one-to-one meeting, the clerk was there, the Permanent Secretary of the Executive Office was there and others so to suggest that this was some shady meeting is totally disingenuous.”
TUV leader Jim Allister (left) and Timothy Gaston in the Northern Ireland Assembly (David Young/PA)
Ms Bradshaw also said the email from the clerk around her meeting with Ms O’Neill was sent because they were to meet “within a number of hours” and to “try to deal with the fast-moving pace”.
“I take great exception for you inferring that there were any procedural irregularities with anything relating to the meeting or the legal advice,” she said.
The tense exchanges come after Ms Bradshaw apologised in a letter to committee members after cutting the live feed camera during a meeting earlier this month.
Mr Gaston, who replaced TUV leader Jim Allister in the Assembly in the summer following the latter’s election to Westminster, has previously complained of attempts to “silence” him.
He has previously been criticised for his questioning of a witness during a committee meeting at the start of October.