Taoiseach's Mahon evidence not credible: matter must now be raised in Dail
Issued : Monday 24 September, 2007
Statement by Eamon Gilmore TD
Leader of the Labour Party, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade
I said last week that I would not make any detailed comment on events at the Mahon Tribunal until the Taoiseach had concluded his direct evidence. Now that Mr. Ahern has completed his evidence in this segment there are a number of issues that must be addressed in the Dail. And I intend to raise these with the Taoiseach when the Dail meets on Wednesday.
The Taoiseach has now given four days of evidence to the Tribunal dealing with his bizarre financial arrangements over several years during the 1990s, including the period when he held the vital office of Minister for Finance.
Quite simply I do not find the Taoiseach's convoluted accounts of his financial dealings to be credible. It is also clear from the opinion polls over the weekend that a great number of the Irish people do not believe the Taoiseach's evidence.
There is clearly a very serious issue of credibility for the Taoiseach when, according to the Red C opinion poll, less than one third of the people believe sworn evidence given by Mr. Ahern before a Tribunal of Inquiry established by the Oireachtas.
This is not surprising given the repeated memory failures on the part of the Mr. Ahern and the number of occasions on which he shifted his ground from explanations previously offered publicly by him in various interviews and statements.
There is now also a serious question as to whether Mr. Ahern provided the full and unconditional cooperation that a Tribunal of Inquiry would normally be entitled to expect from a head of the government, and particularly from one who has regularly boasted that it was 'he' who set up the Tribunal.
Despite the protestations of various Ministers who have been sent out to defend the Taoiseach I cannot believe that there are not people in Fianna Fail or the Green Party who are deeply disturbed by what they have heard i the Taoiseach's evidence.
Speaking in the Dail in the debate on the McCracken Report in September 1997 the Taoiseach said: "The tribunal stresses a point I have repeatedly emphasised, that public representatives must not be under a personal financial obligation to anyone." Almost a year after the first public information emerged about the monies given to the Taoiseach we are still no nearer to understanding why the Taoiseach felt it appropriate to depart from this standard and to accept for personal use cash contributions that would, in today's values, amount to almost €300,000.
The Tribunal will eventually report on this module of its hearings. However, political accountability cannot be postponed until the Tribunal produces a report, which may be two years or more from now. The Dail is now due to resume on Wednesday and has a constitutional duty to hold the government and its members to account. As Leader of the Labour party I will be seeking that accountability and be questioning the Taoiseach on the outcomes of his evidence at the Tribunal.
