Aer Rianta's chief executive Mr John Burke has flatly denied a report that he told his chairman, Mr Noel Hanlon, that Mr Seamus Brennan had failed to pay a bill for €5,000 worth of alcohol and cigars.
A company spokesman yesterday repeated last Friday's statement by Mr Hanlon that his company's inquiry had found no evidence to substantiate the allegations published in last week's Sunday Independent. The inquiry would be completed early this week, the spokesman said.
Mr Hanlon's statement that "it is not expected that there will be any change in this position" still stood, the spokesman added.
Sources revealed yesterday that Aer Rianta's internal inquiry had uncovered "bits and pieces" of bills incurred by an individual or individuals in the Department of Transport during the 1980-1992 period under investigation.
However, none of these bills were incurred by the Minister, and they were for relatively small amounts, the sources said. It is not known whether they will be referred to in the company's final report on the matter.
There is now extreme anger in Government circles at the continuation of the controversy, with many believing that some individuals are running a campaign to damage Mr Brennan.
As Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan is considering proposals to break up Aer Rianta by putting Shannon and Cork airports under independent management. He is considering proposals to build an independent terminal at Dublin Airport.
He must also make decisions shortly over who sits on and chairs the Aer Rianta board.
The Sunday Independent said yesterday that a senior Fianna Fáil politician had first given the story to it three years ago, and that this politician had raised it again with the paper 10 days ago.
Last Friday, Aer Rianta and the Department of Transport said separate inquiries by them had found no evidence to substantiate the allegation against Mr Brennan that he took delivery of goods and then refused to pay for them.
However, the Sunday Independent reported yesterday that Mr Burke had told Mr Hanlon about it. Aer Rianta swiftly denied this yesterday.
"Aer Rianta Chief Executive, Mr John Burke, categorically denies the allegation in today's Sunday Independent (December 1st, 2002) that he confirmed that €5,000 worth of whiskey, brandy and cigars was sent to Seamus Brennan's department and that an unpaid bill was sent to the Minister," a company statement said.
"This allegation was not put to Mr Burke, or to anybody else in Aer Rianta, before being published in today's Sunday Independent. If it had been, Mr Burke would have refuted it totally."