T4. Mr Dunne asked the Minister for the Economy whether he accepts that his comments in a recent BBC interview, in which he claimed that notifying the British Heart Foundation of the PSNI investigation into Michael McMonagle would have prejudiced that investigation, a claim that the PSNI Chief Constable has made very clear was false, were completely wrong. (AQT 624/22-27)

As I said in response to a previous question, had you listened to the full interview, you would understand that I made it clear that I had no information about Mr McMonagle. I then went on to have a theoretical discussion with the journalist about what the responsibility of an employing organisation would be in those circumstances. I accept the Chief Constable's take on that and am happy to bow to his greater knowledge of the law on such matters. I am content with that.

What due diligence did you, as Economy Minister, carry out before making those inaccurate comments? Will you correct the public record and apologise clearly?

As I said, I offered an opinion. That opinion has been corrected by the Chief Constable's view that, if someone had information — it is very clear that I did not, nor did my party leadership — it would not be inappropriate to pass it on to a subsequent potential employer. I am very happy for that to be corrected. If that is the view of the Chief Constable, I am very happy to accept that.