The Scottish Government has confirmed that it received correspondence about same-sex marriage legislation from then-Finance Minister Arlene Foster in September 2015.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government told The Irish News that it received a letter from Ms Foster “in her capacity as a minister of the Northern Ireland Executive” after the enactment of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014.

It follows claims on Twitter by former Scottish Government minister Marco Biagi that Ms Foster “wrote to me asking us to curtail access of Northern Irish citizens to Scottish same-sex marriages”.

He said she wanted to limit the ability of those with civil partnerships in Northern Ireland to convert them into marriages in Scotland.

Mr Biagi added: “England and Wales still only convert their own civil partnerships. Scotland converts anyone’s.”

However, the Northern Ireland Executive and the Scottish Government have declined to publish Ms Foster’s letter.

Clare Bailey, Green Party MLA for South Belfast, told The Irish News: “We should see the content of this correspondence to understand the nature and extent of Arlene Foster’s intervention.

“The DUP go to great lengths to suppress the rights of our LGBTQ citizens – even though the majority of people in Northern Ireland support same-sex marriage and other equality measures.

“So, it wouldn’t surprise me if Arlene Foster intervened in the business of another devolved administration in her anti-equality offensive.”