The Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, yesterday accused the Taoiseach of being "flippant" in his attitude to the revelation that the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, and the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, spent part of their summer holiday in a villa in France at the invitation of a businessman, Mr Ulick McEvaddy.
The Taoiseach said he was not concerned and saw nothing wrong with the fact that the Ministers had accepted the invitation. "My colleagues well understand the rules, and if there is anything that they have to put forward, they fill up their declarations like everybody else next January and they would declare it in that. If there is nothing to declare, they declare nothing."
Asked if it would have been more prudent if the Ministers had simply organised their own holidays, the Taoiseach replied: "Well, if you got an invitation for a few days in a very nice villa in a nice location, I suppose we would probably all take it, and only some of us would feel envious that we didn't get the invitation . . . but, from a politician's point of view, nobody is asking any other questions about anybody else in Irish society [as to] what they did for the summer."
The Taoiseach added: "I suppose the only thing that's amusing people is that the gentleman concerned [Mr Ulick McEvaddy] in one form or another is probably well known as a key Fine Gael person, which is his entitlement and I suppose to have two senior members of the Government with him raises a question to whether he's changed his allegiance or not."
Mr Quinn said he was amazed at the Taoiseach's "flippant attitude". He pointed out that the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 insisted that officeholders had to comply with Cabinet guidelines, and these guidelines stated that offers had to be refused. "There are rules that we took upon ourselves in the Oireachtas and these people clearly are in breach of their own guidelines."
The Labour leader said two decisions were in prospect which had relevance to the commercial interests of the McEvaddy family. One related to an EU directive on aircraft noise and the other was the possibility of a new terminal at Dublin Airport or some kind of development at Baldonnel.
"Here we have the Minister for Finance, who has a central role in these matters, and the Tanaiste, who has gone outside her normal brief, much to the annoyance of some of her colleagues, in relation to the future disposal of Aer Rianta, taking very clear public stances and at the same time appearing to enjoy the free hospitality of the same people.
"Sauce for the goose has to be sauce for the gander. That is why we are having tribunals."
Meanwhile, the general secretary of Fine Gael, Mr Tom Curran, confirmed last night that the party leader, Mr John Bruton, took a helicopter flight with Mr Ulick McEvaddy last year free of charge. Mr Curran said: "At the request of the party, Mr Bruton, as leader, broke from a family holiday in Cork in August 1998 to represent Fine Gael at the Omagh Memorial Service following the tragic events in that town.
"The travel arrangements for that journey were made by the party, when a kind offer of assistance from Mr Ulick McEvaddy was accepted, and Mr Bruton was flown by him to and from Omagh. Mr McEvaddy was clearly providing the Fine Gael party with a gift of this service in a private capacity."
Mr Curran disputed suggestions in a newspaper report yesterday that the value of such a gift was £4,500. "Fine Gael was, and is, satisfied that the value of this gift is within the £4,000 guideline for disclosure. A general public inquiry made with a reputable commercial Irish helicopter company today has verified the party's view."
Mr Ivan Yates, the Fine Gael spokesman on public enterprise, said last night that it was not good enough for the Taoiseach to dismiss the question of a breach of Cabinet ground rules in "such a cavalier fashion". He added: "The issue now is about the Taoiseach's judgment, given his totally dismissive attitude to this matter on the lunchtime news. Even by her own standards, so vociferously set in opposition, Ms Harney is surely guilty of a lapse of judgment. The deafening silence from Ms Harney underlines the double standards she applies."