Parties agree motion of censure against Lowry

Party whips have agreed to table a cross-party motion of censure against Tipperary North TD Michael Lowry following the damning findings against him in the Moriarty report.

The motion calling on Mr Lowry to resign voluntarily is to be adopted by the House without a debate tomorrow morning.

The move, which has no power to compel Mr Lowry to step down, comes at the end of a two-day Dáil debate on the tribunal’s report.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the House earlier that if the whips agreed a motion he would be happy to accommodate it during Government time.

However, Mr Lowry again protested he was innocent of any wrongdoing in relation to the 1995 awarding of the State's second mobile phone licence and that he had no intention of resigning.

He described the inquiry as a scandal of “epic” proportions, claiming its report represented a “triumph of innuendo over evidence”.

“I have performed my role as elected representative of the people of North Tipperary to the very best of my ability. I will continue to do so until they decide otherwise.”

“My conscience is clear. I do not accept Michael Moriarty’s baseless opinions and I will not apologise for something that I did not do,” he said.

Asked by Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin if he accepted the tribunal findings, Mr Kenny said while he welcomed it, he was constrained by pending legal cases and had referred its findings to the relevant authorities.

Mr Kenny said the Dáil does not have the power to force Mr Lowry to resign his seat.

The Taoiseach said TDs do not have the constitutional authority to impose such a sanction.

“This House doesn’t have the constitutional authority to deny anybody access here if they are elected by an electorate from whatever part of the country,” Mr Kenny said.

He again stopped short of calling on his former cabinet colleague to resign and instead repeated his claim that Mr Lowry would quit in an “ideal world”.

Mr Martin said Mr Lowry’s intentions to remain in his seat were clear from statements made attacking the tribunal and he said it was time for the Dáil to move against him.

He accepted the Dáil could not compel a resignation but said it could express its belief that there should be one.

“It’s about the Dail making a statement in as concrete and determined a fashion it can about the behaviour of deputy Lowry as found by the Moriarty tribunal,” Mr Martin said.

He challenged Mr Kenny to say whether he accepted the inquiry’s conclusions. But the Taoiseach took a swipe at Mr Martin, claiming his arrogance knew no bounds.

“You sat on these benches, you travelled the world on behalf of the people of this country, simply because deputy Lowry and others had secret deals with you that you refused to publish,” Mr Kenny said.

“I’ve said before Moriarty was ever published, and when it was published, that in an ideal world, deputy Lowry would resign from the house, but we don’t live in an ideal world.”

At the opening of the two-day Dáil debate yesterday, Mr Kenny said the TD could not hide behind his mandate, claiming the report’s findings reeked of "fanatical greed" and "obsessive attachment" to power.

Mr Lowry spoke for an hour in the Dáil during which he attacked the tribunal’s findings, Mr Justice Moriarty and again reiterated that he did nothing wrong.

In the wake of an examination of the report by the Criminal Assets Bureau, Mr Lowry challenged the state to use all the arsenal in its power to investigate him, defiantly declaring they would find no trace of the €900,000 the tribunal said he secured off the back of the second mobile phone licence.

Additional reporting by PA