Statement by Tánaiste Michael McDowell in Government Buildings Dublin.
"Since details of the Taoiseach's personal financial affairs supplied to the Mahon Tribunal were unlawfully leaked, it has been evident that the underlying intention of the leaker was to destabilise the Government.
The Progressive Democrats have adopted a fair, measured and reasonable approach to these matters as they unfolded while insisting at all times that proper standards in relation to accountability and in relation to conduct in public office were vindicated. The issues involved were not of the Progressive Democrats' making and did not originate at a time when the Progressive Democrats were in office.
The facts disclosed, however, do raise real and substantial issues for the present day and for future times. It is the Progressive Democrats' view that elected representatives and officeholders are, by virtue of their office, not at liberty to accept loans or gifts on the same basis or in the same circumstances as private citizens.
We believe that it was, and is, wrong to accept gifts or loans from strangers while holding public office regardless of the spirit in which such gifts or loans were offered or accepted. The Taoiseach and I have proposed to Government, and the Government has agreed, to amend the law to provide that significant gifts or loans to elected representatives and officeholders should henceforth be prohibited by law in all cases except where the recipient can demonstrate to the Public Offices Commission that their receipt would be proper and would not compromise the discharge of their public office.
The Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 will accordingly be amended to provide a specific prohibition in such cases. The legislation will be brought before the Oireachtas as a matter of urgency. Although the recent controversy has been presented by a small but vocal minority of commentators as one in which there was a need for an identifiable winner and loser among the Government parties, the reality is very different.
The Irish people have a far more intelligent grasp of the issues, their importance, their implications and the options flowing from them than the small minority of commentators who have called for the dissolution of this Government. It is reassuring to note that all the evidence suggests that the substantial majority of the public want this Government to remain in office and to complete its Programme for Government and want the Progressive Democrats to remain part of that Government and that they back the Taoiseach to remain in office and me to continue as his Tánaiste at this important juncture.
That majority also believes, by all accounts, the Taoiseach was right to acknowledge his errors in 1993/4 and I have every reason to believe that the same majority will back the measures agreed by Government today. It would be grotesque if the unlawful actions of a leaker should accomplish their purpose by breaking apart the most successful Government in the history of the independent Irish state.
It would be an act of supreme moral and political folly to reward the wrongful actions of a leaker in this way. It would also amount to a failure of politics and statecraft if such were the result. I want to take this opportunity to reject as completely untrue the suggestion that there were angry exchanges between myself and the Taoiseach. There have never been any angry words between myself and the Taoiseach in the last 7 years - or indeed before then as far as I can recollect. I want to put on the record the simple truth that the Taoiseach and I asked our respective parties to refrain from public comment for a short period to assist us in repairing the damage done to the Government by recent events. I want to thank my parliamentary colleagues for doing so.
This was a legitimate and reasonable way of ensuring that our political commitment to the project of Government remained the master of events and not the opposite. The Taoiseach and I are agreed that we will and must work closely together to ensure that the Government remains cohesive and focused on the implementation of the Programme for Government up to the next election at which point our parties will separately ask for mandates to continue to govern the country in a way that builds on the great successes of the last nine years.
To that end, we have now put in place new arrangements to ensure that communication between the two parties is enhanced and that both parties have confidence in that standard of communication. My intention as leader of the Progressive Democrats is to deliver in full on the public commitment given by me on the day of my election and at the time of my appointment as Tánaiste to complete this Government's term of office and to fully deliver on our very clear commitment to the Irish people to deliver a successful, full term, two party Government."