FG asked to name those 'conflicted' on board

MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley has challenged Fine Gael to name current members of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority who the party’s spokesman claims have a conflict of interest.

Fine Gael environment spokesman Phil Hogan made the allegation during Dáil exchanges as the Minister answered questions about the reports on finance and on corporate governance at the authority.

Mr Gormley also told the Dáil about a third report. He said that “arising from its 2008 accounts, the authority has also prepared a report in respect of the Beckbay joint venture. I have appointed independent financial advisers to review and analyse this report in consultation with my department and the Department of Finance.”

During heated exchanges, Mr Hogan claimed “there are people who are still conflicted on the board of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority”.

The Minister asked “who are they?” and said “I think you have a public duty to name them”. When Mr Hogan retorted “I’ll decide that”, Mr Gormley said “you can’t just throw things out like that. You have a duty to name those people. Follow up what you’re saying, substantiate what you’re saying, and I will act accordingly.”

The Fine Gael spokesman replied: “You check with the chairman and you’ll find out.”

The Minister said he expected “consideration of the reports will be completed within a matter of weeks, at which stage I will bring proposals to Government to respond appropriately to the issues raised”. He intended publishing the reports “in the interest of transparency”.

Mr Hogan said “the Minister has not confirmed to the House that he has examined all of the conflicts of interest that have emerged in these matters”.

When Mr Gormley said the matters concerned finance and planning and “may not be as explosive as you and others had indicated earlier on”, Mr Hogan claimed the Minister “has not indicated that there is any degree of accountability being sought from people who were on the boards; on the various sub-committees of the boards over the years who were making these decisions”.

Mr Gormley told him “I’m afraid you may be looking for something here that you may not be able to achieve. You’re looking for some major story here, and I’m afraid . . . you know the situation, you the people that were involved. You know they were developers. I have to say that my party doesn’t take donations from developers, unlike your own party.”

Mr Hogan demanded that the Minister “withdraw that allegation you have made that in some way because Fine Gael are in the business of accepting donations for election time that you have a problem with that in terms of our conflict of interest in dealing with these matters”.

When Mr Hogan referred to former Green senator Déirdre de Búrca, who said the Minister was delaying publication of the reports as it would embarrass Fianna Fáil, Mr Gormley said “it would have been an interesting question” to ask her “‘have you read these reports’. I’m the only person who has read these actual reports.”