Vol. 533 No. 3
21 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she was advised of the procedures and circumstances surrounding the awarding of a second mobile phone licence to a company (details supplied); if her attention was drawn at any time since her appointment as Minister to irregularities concerning the awarding of the licence; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8932/01]
There is the question as to whether the matter raised by the Deputy may be considered by the Moriarty tribunal. The solicitor to the tribunal has informed my Department that the investigative phase of the tribunal's work is conducted on a confidential basis. Because of this and to ensure it is enabled to perform the tasks assigned to it by the Oireachtas, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on any matter which may be subject to investigation by the tribunal.
(Mayo): Does the Minister accept the process of awarding the licence was very clear. This is a technical matter. The applications and tenders were invited, the process was handled by a working group consisting of officials of a Department and Anderson International, a Danish company, and the licence was awarded on the basis of recommendations from this working group. The decision was then cleared by the EU.
The tribunal was set up by the Oireachtas and I can only repeat what we have been told by the solicitor to the tribunal whom we consulted on this answer. The solicitor to the tribunal has informed my Department that the investigative phase of the tribunal's work is conducted on a confidential basis.
(Mayo): Is the Minister aware that a joint committee of this House has received a communication from the tribunal and that no impediment has been placed in the way of the investigating committee. It is a matter for the committee to decide whether it will carry out an investigation. The Minister has held her portfolio for three years and nine months. Has she examined the files? Has she discussed the file and decision in question with the secretary general of her Department? Will the Minister confirm a widely circulated report that the former programme manager to the Taoiseach was in her Department and examined the file and found that the entire matter was hermetically sealed? I have put three questions to the Minister.
To which I will not give an answer. The Oireachtas set up the Moriarty and Flood tribunals. It would be incorrect of me to give an answer to any of the questions which the Deputy has raised when the solicitor to the tribunal has given advice on the matter. It is bizarre that three and a half years later I am asked to give a general absolution in some form to an undertaking started by the previous rainbow coalition. My Department has been given very clear instructions from the tribunal and I do not intend to act against them.
(Mayo): Is the Minister saying she is prohibited from answering questions on this matter by the advice given by the tribunal?
What I am saying is what I read out. The solicitor to the tribunal has informed my Department that the investigative phase of the tribunal's work is conducted on a confidential basis. Because of this and to ensure the tribunal is enabled to perform the tasks assigned to it by the Oireachtas, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on any matter which may be subject to investigation by the tribunal.
(Mayo): Is the Minister aware that it is patently obvious that she is hiding behind the Moriarty tribunal, that she is not prohibited from answering straightforward questions on the technical details in her Department? Is the Minister further aware that the Moriarty tribunal did not even exist – it was the McCracken tribunal – when this licence was issued? It is patently obvious that there is an agenda at play here to put major question marks over awarding the licence when the entire matter was handled in a propitious, fair, equitable and above-board manner.
The independent Moriarty tribunal would be very interested in the tenor and tone of the Deputy's suggestion that I am hiding behind an issue about which I did not make any decision. Perhaps the Deputy has been overcome by amnesia but it was the then Minister, Deputy Lowry, who awarded the licence. Deputy Higgins may advance any convoluted theory he likes about me hiding behind this issue but I was not in the Department, either physically or in spirit, at that time. The then Minister's name was Deputy Michael Lowry. Deputy Higgins should understand that clearly.
I am not hiding behind the solicitor to the Moriarty tribunal. I am citing exactly what he has informed my Department. The committees are independent and what they decide to do is their business. I presume the committee will seek legal advice but it is not for me to comment on its activities. I can only reiterate that the Department has been informed that it would be inappropriate for me to comment on any matter which may be subject to investigation by a tribunal.
The time for this question has expired.
