The chairman and chief executive of Campus & Stadium Ireland Development Ltd (CSID), Mr Paddy Teahon, insisted last night he had nothing wrong in the awarding of the contract for the national aquatic centre.
Mr Teahon said he would give a full explanation of the circumstances surrounding the issue when he appears before the Dáil Committee of Public Accounts this afternoon.
On his way into a meeting with the Minister for Sport, Dr McDaid, last night, Mr Teahon said he had just received a copy of the 60-page report written by the Attorney General, Mr Michael McDowell, and had not yet read it.
The report was presented to the Cabinet yesterday. The controversy put further pressure on the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, over the Abbotstown project. The Tánaiste, Ms Harney's, concerns were said to have been exacerbated by the report. Her spokesman said she had concerns at the outset and they had now been "heightened".
It is expected the report will not be published until next week. The Government stressed yesterday that those mentioned in it were entitled to examine its contents.
Dr McDaid said Ministers could not have made a decision on the report yesterday without having read it. "OK, there is a political imperative here but at the end of the day we are talking about a person's integrity and natural justice as well."
When asked last night if he had any intention of resigning his position Mr Teahon replied: "Certainly not." When then asked why he would not do so, he added: "Because I have done nothing wrong. As I understand it, the report says all the procedures were put in place correctly."
The issue as far as he was concerned, said Mr Teahon, was putting a pool in place for the Special Olympics. "We were operating to a very tight timescale."
He regretted that he had not used the word "dormant" when discussing the awarding of the contract for the centre. "I regret that in saying what I did and I did say things to the assessment panel and to the board - I regret at this juncture that I did not use the word dormant. People have attached considerable significance to the word dormant . . . I did not see dormancy as the issue. The issue as far as I saw it was that we had a consortium with whom we could contract."
Earlier the Dr McDaid said the report found everything was "above board" but said there had been a "lack of caution, coupled with some over-enthusiasm to get the job done" and perhaps "some corners were cut".
In reponse Mr Teahon denied that corners had been cut. "If I am to be found guilty of enthusiasm I am happy to admit to being enthusiastic."
In the Dáil yesterday, Mr Ahern said that Dr McDaid would inform the CSID board at a meeting last night that the Government had agreed in principle to the recommendations that the roles of chairman and chief executive should be separated and that a full time chief executive and finance director should be appointed.
