Ahern names Brennan in Aer Rianta case

The Taoiseach named Mr Seamus Brennan in the Dáil as the Minister involved in the alleged non-payment of the Aer Rianta drink and cigars debt.

Mr Ahern made the revelation as the Minister for Transport sat next to him in the chamber during Taoiseach's questions. Mr Brennan had earlier answered routine questions on his Department.

Responding to Opposition questions on the issue, the Taoiseach said he did not need to call in any Minister to determine who was involved.

"It was clear who they were talking about. Minister Brennan contacted me over the weekend to tell me there was an article about him which would appear. I confirm that, which I know is big news to the House."

The Taoiseach read Mr Brennan's statement, issued yesterday, into the record of the House. Mr Ahern said any other information brought to his attention would be made available to the Dáil. He said that any talk with past or present staff, who might know something about the matter, had all come to zero.

He revealed that he had spoken to a former Aer Rianta director, Mr Dermot O'Leary, "and he has not been able to give other than the facts in the public domain which, at this stage, amount to an allegation".

He added that it was an important and serious matter. "I will report as soon as I have something to report, and if I have nothing to report, I will report that," he said.

Agreeing that it was a matter which should be resolved as quickly and thoroughly as possible, he said: "I also, however, want to bring it to a definitive conclusion. I am hopeful that the inquiry being carried out by the secretary-general of the Department of Transport will be concluded a good deal sooner than the period of time allowed." He understood that it would be done as quickly as possible, "and later on this week at the latest".

Mr Ahern added that the results of Aer Rianta's inquiry were also awaited. "I understand they have investigated this, as far as they can over the last day-and-a-half and have asked an auditor for Aer Rianta to examine any issues that are there."

He said that answers demanded by the Opposition should rightly be provided. "The Minister does not want to give any incorrect answers, and I don't want to give any incorrect answers."

Earlier the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, had referred to the "Aer Rianta drinks scandal" and asked the Taoiseach to confirm if there was any veracity in the article in the Sunday Independent.

He asked Mr Ahern if he had called in his Ministers in turn and asked them if there was any truth in the allegation. "Is any member of the current Cabinet, or any member of the second bench, involved in this story, centrally or not?"

He asked if he had contacted the former Aer Rianta board member, Mr Dermot O'Leary, who had assisted the former TD, Mr Liam Lawlor, through a side door at Dublin Airport on his way to serve a jail sentence.

"Does the Taoiseach have any sense of the outrage felt by the public? If a Minister used the facilities of a semi-State body as a personal shop, it would amount to a gross abuse of public trust and he or she would not be deemed fit to hold public office.

"Given that this puts the members of his Cabinet in the spotlight, will the Taoiseach explain why it will take a fortnight to get a report on what should be a simple matter?"

Mr Kenny suggested that the controversy amounted to "a sense of lack of moral leadership by the Government."

The Fine Gael leader later asked Mr Ahern if he felt it was right and proper that the Department should be investigating and reporting to Mr Brennan, who was the person in charge. In view of the fact that the matter might have gone back to as far as 1989, would the Taoiseach talk to each member of his Cabinet and party and come in to the House and reveal that they had assured him of their non-involvement in what "amounts to a borrowing if not a theft of State property?"

He added that the equivalent of 250 bottles of brandy would indeed "make a hell of a Christmas party whoever was involved".

Mr Ahern said the modern equivalent of the cost of the drink and cigars was between €10,000 and €12,000. To laughter from all sides of the House, he added: "And I would - and I say this seriously - expect my Cabinet or my colleagues would remember if they drank that, particularly if it was on one Christmas."

He added that all the records were in the Department. "Needless to say, I am keeping a close watch on this, in so far as I can, to get whatever information I can."

The Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, said he was puzzled why it took two days for Mr Brennan's statement to be issued. "Would it not be the case, Taoiseach, that one would have expected - if there was no truth in this allegation - that it would have been rebutted by lunchtime on Sunday, or that a statement would be put out to say there was some truth in it but the essential facts were correct?

"The third option is that it would be admitted and a resignation tendered. Why was it presumed that it should take 14 days to conduct an inquiry?

"Surely if the Arts Minister was accused of inadvertently or otherwise taking artefacts out of the National Gallery, he would remember whether he did it or not?"

He understood, he added, that the passage of time made recollection imprecise. "On something like this, if somebody consumed that amount of drink, they would be inclined to remember it, even with others."

Mr Rabbitte asked if the merchandise came from the bonded warehouse system in Aer Rianta. He further asked if there was an internal dispute, "and people not likely to be reappointed to the board of Aer Rianta are spilling the beans, in this case the brandy, so to speak".

He asked what Mr Brennan had meant when he said that he did not know if there was one minister or 10 ministers involved. "Was he, if there is truth in the allegation, acting on behalf of a number of ministers? Was the booty being shared out?"

Mr Ahern said he understood it would be impossible for any of the spirits to come out of the bonded warehouse in Aer Rianta. "Obviously, they have some way of checking that." Mr Brennan, he said, had referred to a number of ministers because there were dates, 1989, 1991 and the mid-1990s, mentioned, and he thought people were talking about a cumulative figure.

Mr Ahern added that the best way of dealing with the matter was to check the basic facts as quickly as possible.

Pressed further by Mr Rabbitte, he said he wished there was a button to press to disprove allegations, but there was not.

Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (SF, Cavan-Monaghan) said there was undoubted public concern about the make-up of the Aer Rianta board, "which is dominated by one political view as the result of appointments over the years". The view was that of Fianna Fáil, he added.

"Is it not the case also that Aer Rianta is seen almost as an extension of the Fianna Fáil fiefdom?" He suggested widening the terms of reference to take in the full gamut of Aer Rianta itself.

Mr Ahern said Mr Ó Caoláin was not very well informed about the internal politics of Aer Rianta and the Minister's views and what he was trying to do.

Mr Ó Caoláin said they were looking at a "culture of corruption" which had to be addressed.