Rabbitte denies leaking report on deal with religious

Public Accounts Committee: The proceedings of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) were delayed yesterday by a major argument over the leaking of internal documents and allegations that a Fianna Fáil member was using his position to protect Ministers.

The row followed an allegation by Mr Seán Fleming of Fianna Fáil that the Labour Party leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, was the source of a leaked confidential document which had been discussed by members in private session last week.

Last Friday The Irish Times published details of a draft committee report on the indemnity agreement reached between the Department of Education and religious orders.

Mr Rabbitte strongly denied any involvement in the leak. He accused Mr Fleming of disreputable conduct and suggested that it was not appropriate for him to serve on the committee.

Mr Fleming said leaks were undermining the work of the committee. Mr Rabbitte had a proven record as the source of leaks from the committee. Last year Mr Rabbitte had had to apologise to the committee after a letter to members from the Comptroller and Auditor General in relation to electronic voting was given to a Labour Party deputy, Mr Eamon Gilmore. Mr Fleming said Mr Gilmore had subsequently issued a press release.

Mr Rabbitte said the allegations about last week's leak were outrageous and unsubstantiated. "I did not leak the document, nor did I cause it to be leaked either directly or indirectly," he said.

"I was hiding documents from journalists on this committee when Deputy Fleming was hiding cheques from Ray Burke at Fianna Fáil headquarters," he said.

Mr Fleming said Mr Rabbitte's claims were scurrilous. The Labour leader had falsely accused him of hiding cheques from Ray Burke when Mr Rabbitte had accepted cheques from Frank Dunlop.

Mr John Curran and Mr John Dennehy of Fianna Fáil rejected any suggestion that Government members were biased or sought to protect Ministers. Mr Fleming later retracted the allegations against Mr Rabbitte.