Red Sky scandal

The board was due to discuss a request from the DUP's Minister for Social Development Nelson McCausland to extend Red Sky's contract.

[2] In April 2011, the company went into voluntary administration after the Housing Executive had cancelled their contract after an investigation concluded that there were concerns of fraud.

The Housing Executive "raised concerns" in a letter to its board members about meetings "held between McCausland, First Minister of Northern Ireland Peter Robinson and other DUP elected representatives with the former senior management at Red Sky.

"[5] The executive asked whether the meetings "constituted canvassing and lobbying for government contracts in breach of public procurement principles".

Minutes from the meeting show that Robinson "said in his opinion, Housing Executive staff must bear some of the blame for overpayments".

[3] Brian Rowntree, Housing Executive chairman, wrote a letter following the meeting and told McCausland to "step back" and threatened legal action against the minister and his department.

[9] Sinn Féin MLA Alex Maskey, deputy chairperson of the committee, said Palmer's evidence was "convincing, consistent and compelling".