Education Minister Paul Givan has accused those criticising him over the £710k Lisneal College football pitch funding row of sectarianism.
There has been a furore over the school being handed the money without making a formal application.
His DUP colleague Jonathan Buckley said that since the story broke in the Belfast Telegraph last month, several MLAs had implied “some form of impropriety in the process” which, he claimed, had since been corrected.
At last week’s meeting of Stormont’s education committee Mr Given spent almost two hours fielding angry questions on the funding award to upgrade the football pitch to NIFL standard despite other schools struggling with basic maintenance.
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On Tuesday he told the Assembly: “Nobody has yet apologised for the misrepresentation of this scheme.
“They ask why there is a lack of confidence and trust in these institutions when it comes to decisions taken. Well, there’s a lack of confidence and trust when Members deliberately misrepresent the facts.
“I think they need to reflect on the approach they have taken on this particular school.
“They owe an apology to the school, the education committee owes an apology to the school.
“I went to spend two hours talking about children with special educational needs and all of the issues in our education system, and for 90 minutes the education committee prioritised an investigation, if you want to call it that, into one school.
“Not one Member who has criticised this particular issue has highlighted the glaringly obvious contrast of non-controlled schools receiving exactly the same level of funding for exactly the same provision… I think it is pretty obvious what the motivation has been.
“It is notable that having put on record that there was funding provided in the same Foyle constituency to a Catholic maintained school, nobody has picked that up, not one who then subsequently asked questions at the education committee.
“Not only I, but other schools in the controlled sector, are asking why is it that the controlled sector, and this school in particular, has been singled out. They are all pointing to examples in their own communities where funding has went in to non-controlled schools. They are concerned.
“They believe, like I do, that this is politically motivated with a sectarian agenda.
“That is what this is about. That is the purpose.”
Paul Givan
Mr Givan also criticised the Alliance Party, saying it was ‘“solely focused on the grant maintained integrated sector”, which “had benefited to the tune of hundreds of mullions of pounds”.
“How dare a controlled school get the crumbs from that table, or £700,000,” he added.
There was no response in the chamber from either Alliance or Sinn Fein.
At last week’s meeting Sinn Fein’s Pat Sheehan accused the minister of “cronyism” and “creating a view that he is not being transparent”.
Committee members had insisted they were not singling out one particular school, but calling into question the whole decision-making process within the Education Authority on awarding funding.