People in the immediate circle of the Minister for Transport, Mr Cullen, are said to be increasingly confident about his fate as the Government awaits a report into the award of lucrative public relations contracts in Departments under his direct control.
TDs said last night that Mr Cullen's political future was still in the balance as the Taoiseach prepared to examine a report by the former Revenue chairman, Mr Dermot Quigley, into the contracts given to Ms Monica Leech.
However, they said there was a growing sense from those around Mr Cullen that he would be cleared of wrong-doing in the report. Mr Quigley is expected to report early this week on his month-long examination of contracts won by Ms Leech when Mr Cullen was in charge of the Office of Public Works and the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
Mr Cullen's spokesman and a Government spokesman refused to comment yesterday on a Sunday Independent report which said the Minister would be cleared. While it was not clear last night whether drafts were in circulation before the weekend, informed sources said there was considerable speculation about the report in political circles but little by way of hard information about its conclusions.
After Mr Ahern's return to Dublin early yesterday from a trade mission to China, it is widely believed that Mr Quigley will give the report to him before the Dáil resumes on Wednesday. This would enable Mr Ahern to respond to questioning about the affair from the Opposition benches.
The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, declined to comment on Mr Cullen's future on RTÉ Radio, other than to say the inquiry would concentrate on the awarding of contracts to Ms Leech.
The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Mr Brennan, said last night that Mr Cullen faced a tough week but Cabinet members were supporting him. Mr Brennan told The Week in Politics programme on RTÉ that he had a "hunch" that proper procedures were followed, based on what Mr Cullen had told him.
