A body representing hundreds of Renewable Heat Incentive claimants last night attacked the Department of the Economy (DfE) for releasing the names of individuals receiving subsidies.
The list comes two months after the department published the identities of companies and organisations claiming money under the botched scheme.
RHI was closed to new applications in February last year amid concerns that it would lead to a £490m overspend by the Stormont executive.
Launched in 2013 when DUP leader Arlene Foster was enterprise minister it was designed to encourage a uptake in renewable energy – but unlike a corresponding scheme in Britain, no cost controls were put in place.
A public inquiry into the scheme, which saw a massive spike in applications in the autumn of 2015, will begin hearing evidence in the autumn.
Some of the individuals named in the latest list have claimed in excess of £750,000.
The RHI scheme proved especially popular with poultry farmers supplying Brazilian-owned processor Moy Park.
The Renewable Heat Association NI (RHANI), which represents many of the recipients, has sought unsuccessfully through the courts to block publication of names.
In a statement last night, it said the release of the list was "distressing" for its members.
The department said the 61-page list of all individuals and companies that received subsidies above a £5,000 threshold was released "in the interests of transparency" and inclusion "does not imply wrongdoing by any of the beneficiaries".
But RHANI claimed that figures are inaccurate – some by up to 300 per cent per year.
The group questioned why the department has "put so much effort into naming the scheme participants who are suffering as a consequence of its own process in setting up and managing the RHI scheme."
"The names, grades and salaries of the civil servants who designed, managed and policed the scheme are not available on the Department for the Economy website," it said.
The names of 48 claimants who between them received £2.3m have not been published.
According to DfE, these were withheld after it wrote to claimants on the instructions of the High Court "to assess the legitimate interests of the beneficiaries under the RHI scheme in non-disclosure of their names".
Claimants were asked if they objected to their name being made public, before the department assessed whether it was in the public interest to disclose their identity.
The department released the names where "that balancing exercise came down in favour of doing so".
"The department wishes to make it very clear that the sole reason for publishing this list has been in the interests of transparency," a DfE statement said.
"Inclusion in the list does not, in any way, imply wrongdoing by any of the beneficiaries. In this regard, it is important that no one should prejudge the outcome of the planned audits or make incorrect presumptions based on the department's decision to release these details."
Name/Date of Application/Business or Installation Location/TechnologyType/Installation Capacity (kWth)/Amount of payments made to 28 February 2017 (£)*
* This figure includes all disbursements made by Ofgem up to and including 27 February 2017. However, in some cases, funds will have taken an additional short period (of a few days) before being cleared and accessible in beneficiaries’ bank accounts. The totals here therefore reflect the payment amounts as made by Ofgem up to and including 27 February 2017.
Subscribe now to get full access
Get the day’s headlines delivered directly to your inbox