Motion to include Burke payment in new tribunal's investigations defeated

The Government yesterday refused to accede to Opposition demands that the £30,000 cash payment made to Mr Ray Burke in 1989 be included in the terms of reference of the new tribunal of inquiry.

A Democratic Left motion - supported by Fine Gael, Labour, the Greens and a number of Independents - calling for the issue to be part of the tribunal's preliminary investigations was defeated in the Dail by 76 votes to 69. Mr Pat Rabbitte (DL, Dublin South West) said the purpose of the amendment regarding Mr Burke was to have the matter investigated at the preliminary stage of the tribunal to establish whether or not there was evidence that would warrant it being referred to the tribunal proper.

All he was asking was that during the "sifting process", which, as the proposed terms of reference stood, would be conducted in private, the matter should be included.

"It seems to me, as someone remarked on the radio today, that if this matter had come into the public arena during the Lowry Haughey affair, it would indisputably have been referred to the McCracken tribunal.

"Here we have a serving Minister, who may have done nothing wrong, and this is entirely nonjudgmental, but he did receive an inordinately large personal donation from a stranger and he can give us no information as to the motivation or anything else behind that," Mr Rabbitte said.

If evidence was established in the tribunal's preliminary investigation, then the matter would proceed, and if not, that would be the end of it. This was the minimum the House could do.

Mr Brendan Howlin (Lab, Wexford) said he strongly supported the amendment. There was a strong public focus on the need to ensure that they were not just dealing in historic terms with wrongs of the past and to have confidence restored now in everybody who held public office.

"I, like others who have spoken, am making no allegation against the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I don't think there is any primafacie case established, but I think all of us have been amazed by the fact that somebody that was barely known to him arrived with two envelopes stuck to the gills with £30,000 in cash and that needs further investigation, at least from the preliminary stage."

Mr Michael Noonan (FG, Limerick East) said the amendment was a very good one. "Our view in Fine Gael is that while nothing new emerged which could damage Mr Burke's reputation yesterday, yesterday didn't clear up the event, either."

There certainly was not enough prima-facie evidence for making Mr Burke's payment an issue within the terms of reference of the tribunal, for a full-blown inquiry, as it had not reached that point. But it should be included in the "preliminary sifting" in which the tribunal would engage in private, and if nothing emerged, no damage would have been done to Mr Burke's reputation.

If new facts emerged which called for further inquiry, it would proceed into the body of the tribunal.

Mr John Gormley (Green Party, Dublin South East) said if they had a tribunal, they could ask the developers why the money had been paid in cash. They could get the developers to open their books. "But maybe, just maybe, that is why there is a reluctance among certain Opposition parties to call for Ray Burke to be investigated by a new tribunal," he said.

"If the books were opened it just might reveal that others were in receipt of payments." The Taoiseach had said that no party was blameless. "Well I can say to the Taoiseach that the Green Party has never accepted a donation from a developer."

Mr Gormley said the terms of reference before the Dail were about "putting politics before people" and "self-preservation". They were a decoy designed to concentrate on Mr Haughey and Mr Lowry, who were "yesterday's men". But while Mr Haughey was gone, the Haugheyites lived on. The appointment of Mr Burke to the Cabinet by the Taoiseach was an "extraordinary one".

"There is a thick file on Mr Burke in Garda headquarters in the Phoenix Park. He has been investigated 20 times by the Fraud Squad, he received £30,000 in cash from a developer, and the Government would have us believe that all of this is normal, all of this is acceptable, all of this is above reproach, and indeed all of this should be rewarded by Ministerial position."

Responding for the Government, the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, said deputies were prefacing their remarks about Mr Burke by saying, "Of course, he may have done nothing wrong," "Of course, I'm making no allegations," and, "Of course, there's no prima-facie case against him."

At the same time they wanted to keep the game going on "for ever and ever and ever". Deputy Burke had done what nobody in Mr McCreevy's time in Leinster House had done; he had come into the House, made a personal statement, subjected himself to cross-questioning and given a fair outline of his own private and personal affairs.

It was obvious that the only thing which would satisfy some people outside the House would be for Deputy Burke to resign.

"Deputy Burke has stated quite clearly he received this money, he gave the circumstances in which he received it, he owned up and said all about it." The response had been, `Ah, yeah, that was grand and there's no prima-facie evidence and there's no allegation of anything wrong but we want to keep it going.' It's the greatest amount of bloody hypocrisy that we've had in this House for a long time," the Minister said.

"All the journalists, all the media, have spent day in, day out over a long period of time researching the activities of Deputy Raphael P. Burke and it's about time maybe that they put up or shut up about it. No further evidence has been adduced in this particular matter."

It was time to give Deputy Burke an "even chance". Until further evidence was adduced he stood cleared of all charges and all the amendments concerning him were rejected.

Independents who supported the Government in rejecting the Democratic Left motion were Mr Harry Blaney (Donegal North East) and Mr Jackie Healy-Rae (Kerry South). Mr Joe Higgins (Socialist Party, Dublin West), Mr Thomas Gildea (Ind, Donegal South West) and Mr Caoimhghin O Caolain (Cavan Monaghan) supported the motion.

A Green Party amendment calling for the payment to Mr Burke to be made part of the tribunal's terms of references was defeated without being put to a vote.