The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission will consider introducing fees for the use of electric vehicle charging points at Parliament Buildings, following a public backlash over MLAs using the facilities without charge.

The Commission confirmed on Thursday evening that the Speaker, with the support of all Members, had tasked officials to produce options for the next meeting later this month. The proposals will set out how to charge for use of the six EV points on the estate and bring all Assembly-controlled charging points under a consistent management policy.

The move came after it emerged during the week that a number of MLAs had topped up their vehicles for free. None spoke publicly about their use until they were named on the BBC Nolan Show.

TUV North Antrim MLA Timothy Gaston, who addressed the issue on that programme, said the story illustrated the importance of investigative journalism. He argued that the rules had been acceptable to the political parties until the public found out, and that heavy criticism had been justified.

Gaston said each time an MLA plugged in a car, they made a moral choice to accept free electricity. He added that the public response showed some politicians were out of touch, and that he had not seen such criticism of Assembly members in a long time.

The Commission stated that the free charging arrangements were common in many public sector bodies and were part of incentive schemes to promote electric vehicle adoption. It noted that when the chargers were installed in 2015, the technology was still emerging and public charging infrastructure was not widely available. The body said the wider approach is now changing as many charging points impose a cost on users.