POLITICAL REACTION:FIANNA Fáil has demanded that the Moriarty report be sent immediately to the Director of Public Prosecutions for his consideration.
In a statement issued last night, Fianna Fáil said there were two “core points” in the report: “What happened before the licence was awarded, in order to promote the interests of one bidder, and what happened after the licence was awarded.”
Fianna Fáil’s statement said the report’s comments in relation to Fine Gael’s handling of the issue of a “clandestine” $50,000 donation it received were, “by far the most serious criticism of the direct actions of a political party made in any report of a tribunal of inquiry” established by the Oireachtas.
“At the time that this donation was made, the Taoiseach was not only a Fine Gael member of cabinet, he and others who are once again holding senior offices were involved in parts of the fundraising practices covered in the report,” it added.
The Fianna Fáil statement, issued in the name of frontbencher Billy Kelleher, observes in relation to a conflict of evidence between tribunal witness Mark FitzGerald and Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan that “it is clear that the evidence of the Minister for the Environment was not accepted by the judge”.
“In light of that finding, the question must be asked whether the Taoiseach has confidence in Minister Hogan given that the judge in his report has accepted the evidence of Mark FitzGerald over his Minister’s?”
Welcoming the publication of the report, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams called for an urgent Dáil debate on its contents.
“This is a lengthy, detailed investigation into the actions and behaviour and decisions of former Fine Gael minister Michael Lowry and it deserves careful scrutiny,” he said in a statement.
Mr Adams described the report as “a damning indictment of the behaviour of the former Fine Gael minister Michael Lowry, as well as the lack of accountability and scrutiny of a Fine Gael government of which the Taoiseach was a member”.
Calling on the Taoiseach to make a “full and frank statement” to the Dáil on the report and to schedule a debate on the issue, Mr Adams added: “The report says that Fine Gael benefited to the tune of $50,000. Was this declared to the US justice department at that time?
The Sinn Féin leader said the report highlighted “the need for fundamental political reform which includes holding Ministers and TDs to account for wrongdoing” .