The Two Wise Men (or Women)
So after another marathon Executive session we now have twin inquiries into the water crisis, one from the Utility Regulator examining NI Water and one from two independent investigators probing the response of the Regional Development department.
As I write the two wise men (or women) haven't yet been identified. They will be appointed by the First and Deputy First MInisters and I am guessing they will have sufficient experience of industry or governance to inspire a degree of confidence in their ability to provide an authoritative report. However the remit they have been given in relation to the department's role seems far less specific than the remit published in relation to the Utlity Regulator's examination of NI Water. (UPDATE: They have been named as Philip Holder and Heather Moorhead - so "One Wise Man and One Wise Woman" would have been a more accurate headline.)
On the face of it, the addition of this extra component goes some way towards meeting the criticism from the Consumer Council and others that giving the job to the Utility Regulator alone was asking too much of an office which is slready part of the established governance structures here. However in its latest statement the Council still isn't impressed by what it views as a
Whatever the merits of the twin track adopted by the Executive, will the passage of time dilute the impact of the investigation? The composite report is due to go to ministers by the end of February. With the Assembly likely to rise at the end of March for the 2011 election campaign, that will only leave around four weeks for any action to be taken on the basis of the Utility Regulator and special investigators' conclusions. And who knows, under the D'Hondt method, who will pick the Regional Development brief after the May election?
I shall be talking to the Minister for Winter, Conor Murphy, on Inside Politics this weekend. Does his refusal to step aside show strength of character or a failure to fully accept his own responsibility? And would his survival have been possible under any other system of government? That's all on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Ulster's Inside Politics this Sunday after the one o'clock news.
P.S. Throughout this crisis Sinn Fein backbenchers have been taking swipes at the Housing Executive's handling of the big freeze, whilst SDLP politicians have been concentrating their fire on the hapless NI Water. The DUP have happily fired at both targets (the Social Development chair Simon Hamilton expressed his surprise today about the fact that nearly a quarter of Housing Executive homes needed repairs after the thaw). Many of the concerns expressed are legitimate, but I'd like to ask readers to keep an eye out for any backbencher who steels their courage to launch a blistering assault on a government agency answerable to a department led by a minister from their own party. That would be a bit different - it could be the Stormont equivalent to listening out for the first cuckoo of the spring.
I'm 
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