THE outcome of a claim by Goodman International for the return of £17 million in export refund securities, frozen by the Government since last year, will be settled soon, it emerged yesterday.
The Minister for Agriculture Mr Yates, said he would be bringing the matter to Cabinet soon and, while he could not pre empt the decision, the matter was likely to be resolved "within weeks".
Mr Yates added that he was unaware of reports that the issue would cause tensions in the Cabinet. His attitude was dead.
"The file in this case goes back to the late 1980s, and a £7 million forfeiture has been imposed, the largest ever in this area," he said.
He said the Department had taken all the evidence in the case collected by outside agencies and the Department, and the matter was nearing conclusion.
An investigation had been conducted into the £30 million securities when representations were made to senior ministers by former Goodman International employees.
It emerged at the weekend that this investigation, which was led by the Department of Agriculture with the help of the EU anti fraud unit, found no evidence of improper conduct by the company.
The investigation centred on the payment of export refunds for beef which the company was contracted to sell to Middle Eastern countries. The trade was disrupted by the Gulf War which resulted in an embargo on Iraq.
Export refunds are paid in advance, but the guarantees are not released until proof of delivery is provided by the exporter.
It is understood the company admitted some procedural breaches of the export credit scheme in relation to documentation on shipments but said the beef for which it had obtained export refunds had all been sold outside the EU. It said it qualified for most of the refunds.
It is understood that agreement had been reached between the Department and the company for the return of £23 million of the £30 million involved but, at that stage, new information was given to some Ministers and the proposal to release £17 million of the remainder was delayed.