ANALYSIS:TDs need reassuring that the issue would be resolved quickly, with no other nasty surprises, writes HARRY McGEE
THE APPEARANCE of James Reilly’s name among the list of debt defaulters in Stubbs Gazette on Tuesday morning came as a surprise to everyone, not least Taoiseach Enda Kenny who only found out about it that morning.
The Minister for Health had only learned the night before that it was to appear, but had not contacted Kenny before the story broke. It made for a haphazard Government response to the controversy.
The fact that Reilly was not in a position to make a public statement in the Dáil until his return from Cyprus late last night also ensured that it would rumble on, until the weekend at least.
At best, the inclusion of Reilly’s name in Stubbs will prove an acute political embarrassment for him. Privately, none of his colleagues believed yesterday that the development – on its own – would threaten his ministerial career, unless something else came out in the wash.
Reaction within Government though varied. There was empathy from Fine Gael Ministers – Richard Bruton said a lot of people were in the same position after the property crash and argued Reilly had complied with all the rules required of a Minister.
On the Labour side, while Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore surprisingly expressed full confidence before an explanation was forthcoming, another senior Minister, Pat Rabbitte, said an explanation was needed.
That much was glaringly obvious.
The disclosure also led to a second difficulty for Reilly. It reminded people that the Minister for Health retained an interest in a nursing home. It gave rise to claims of conflict of interest from Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin, as well as from members of the public.
In his annual declaration for the Dáil register of interests, Reilly has listed extensive property interests. It includes his quarter share in the Greenhill Nursing Home, in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, the investment vehicle which has landed him and four others with a €1.9 million debt.
In the declaration, he stated that the “interest was transferred to a blind trust”, as per the advice of the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo). In practice, Reilly gave power of attorney in relation to his interest in the nursing home to his solicitor, who in turn transferred that power to another attorney.
However, it was not the commission which advised him on the complicated arrangement which distanced the Minister from the interest. The commission would have explained that he needed to divest himself of such interests to comply with the relevant Acts.
After the arrangement had been made by Reilly, the commission may also have looked at it to confirm that it accorded with the rules.
It was left to himself though to draw up the arrangement. And in doing that, he was seemingly unaware that his granting of the power of attorney could result in a situation where he himself was in the dark about such a serious consequence as his name appearing in Stubbs Gazette.
At the time of his appointment, he had promised to divest himself of this interest but that was obviously delayed by the protracted legal dispute among different classes of investor.
Two vitally important aspects, from the perspective of other TDs last night, were that Reilly needed to reassure them that the issue would be resolved quickly and there were no other nasty surprises lurking in the long grass.
The perception of a conflict of interest was also developing into a bigger issue last night. Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin claimed Reilly had an interest in a private nursing home at a time when public nursing beds were being closed.
The Taoiseach yesterday described the charge as “preposterous”, but the disclosure gave rise to concern among the general public.
The Minister’s argument in response to this has been twofold. The first is that he has been attempting to divest himself of the nursing home interest but has been frustrated because of the legal wrangle. His second contention is that the thrust of his policy has been to move people from all nursing homes back to home settings and he is shortly to unveil a policy with a budget of €28 million to give effect to it.
Reilly will survive this controversy but certainly not unscathed.