Opposition to renew calls for Martin's resignation

Tánaiste Mary Harney has denied a report that a missing file central to the Travers report has been found.

Facing calls from Opposition benches in the Dáil this morning for this file to be circulated to TDs ahead of this afternoon's debate on the findings of the report, the Minister for Health dismissed claims it had been found.

The file is said to include a draft letter from the Department of Health to the Attorney General in January last year seeking legal advice on the status of charging elderly people with medical cards for residential health board care.

The Labour Party's Pat Rabbitte said TDs would be entering this afternoon's debate "blindfolded" if they did not get the opportunity to see the file.

But Ms Harney insisted there was no file to disclose. "Contrary to popular opinion, there was no file found overnight in the Department of Health," Ms Harney said. "The file is still missing, I don't know where the file is.

"I don't know what the source was for the story, but it's not accurate."

Department of Health Secretary General Michael Kelly, who was removed yesterday, claims he showed the file to the former minister for health Micheál Martin. Mr Martin insists he never saw it.

Mr Rabbitte claimed it was "completely unbelievable" that Mr Martin would not have seen the file as it was seen in his office.

Mr Martin, who was minister for health from 2000 to 2004, in a statement last night said he had consistently maintained he would have acted on the illegal charges had he been aware of them. "The [Travers] report shows that I was in the same position as other ministers for health since 1976 in not having been fully informed of the situation," he said.

However, speaking on RTÉ radio this morning Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said this "should not be a trap door for someone to get out of it. . . . You must brief yourself. It is your responsibility to manage the affairs of your Department."

"He [Mr Martin] should have gone into the Taoiseach and tendered his resignation and if he doesn't do that the Taoiseach should ask for it," Mr Kenny added.

On the same programme, Minister Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern defended Mr Martin, saying: "You can't have political responsibility for something you didn't know about."

Yesterday Mr Rabbitte said: "If it was any other jurisdiction in the western world, Mr Martin would have resigned by now."

The Taoiseach defended his Minister by saying there was nothing in the report to show Mr Martin failed to carry out his duties.