Greens must back tribunal's integrity, says FG

Fine Gael has challenged the Greens to affirm the independence of the planning tribunal after a Fianna Fáil Minister accused the inquiry of acting outside its remit by trawling through Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's finances in public.

With Mr Ahern due to return to the witness-box on Thursday, his Cabinet colleague Willie O'Dea said yesterday it was "impossible to understand" how the tribunal thought that public hearings into his finances were "a definite matter of urgent public importance", which is the requirement in its terms of reference for carrying out investigations.

It was "not correct" to say the Taoiseach had changed his story on key details, Mr O'Dea told the Sunday Independent, and his recollection about key events which took place many years ago "cannot be complete".

Mr O'Dea's attack on the tribunal prompted Fine Gael's Fergus O'Dowd to call on Minister for the Environment John Gormley to confirm the confidence of the Green Party in the tribunal's integrity.

"It is disgraceful that a Cabinet Minister should now try to bully a tribunal which was set up by the Oireachtas to carry out a thorough independent inquiry," Mr O'Dowd said.

"It is essential that the line Minister responsible for the tribunal affirms its independence and confirms the confidence of the Government collectively in its integrity. Failure by Minister Gormley to do so quickly and decisively will again highlight the Green Party's impotence in this Government."

A spokesman for Mr Gormley said it would be "very invidious" for the minister under whose aegis the tribunal operated to become involved in any way.These were matters for Mr Ahern and his lawyers, and the tribunal and their lawyers, to deal with. He added: "There is no issue about the integrity and independence of the tribunal. These are not in doubt and the matter does not arise".

It is expected that the Taoiseach will be asked to show the basis for his contention that he never made a dollar lodgement when he returns to the tribunal for a third day of evidence this week.

Mr Ahern's lawyers will be seeking to have the remainder of his evidence completed as scheduled this Thursday, although it could take longer if last week's slow progress is repeated.

Before he returns to the witness-box, tribunal lawyers are expected to demand access to the financial analysis Mr Ahern claims proves he did not make a lodgement of $45,000 to his account in 1994.

Last week, Mr Ahern disclosed for the first time that he had appointed a "banking expert", Paddy Strong, to analyse his account documentation. The analysis by Mr Strong, a former chief operations officer of Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking, showed there was no evidence to substantiate a $45,000 lodgement, as claimed by the tribunal, the Taoiseach said.