THE Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications denied he was behind media leaks on the Bord na Mona controversy.
Mr Lowry said the one copy of the draft Price Waterhouse report on the pay and conditions of the company's managing director, Dr Eddie O'Connor, received by the Secretary of the Department, was, not copied and at all stages was kept absolutely confidential. The same was true of the final report. "Any inference that somehow the submission of these reports to the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications can be linked to information in the media is quite wrong.
"At no stage has the Minister or Transport, Energy and Communications had possession, or even sight, of the draft report, the final report or any appended information. However, he has been kept informed of developments by the secretary in his role as accounting officer for the Department."
Mr Lowry, what statement was to the House by the Minister State, Mr Donal Carey, said that previous ministers had advised Bord na Mona that strict adherence to the report on guidelines for State bodies, often referred to as the Cromien report, was essential.
"As the House will know, the references to pay and expenses in that report are very explicit. Furthermore, the former chairman of, Bord na Mona affirmed to the Minister for Transport, Energy, and Communications in 1995, and to his predecessor, Mr Brian Cowen, in 1993 and 1994, that Government guidelines on the pay of the chief executive were being complied with."
Earlier, the Fianna Fail spokesman on energy, Mr Seamus Brennan, said he wanted to know what part the Minister had played in the leaking of reports. He and his Department were among a handful who had the documents and had access to additional information. The saga had been running for over two months, he said. "It has been an unseemly, vicious and nasty battle dominated by media leaks."
The eye of management and the board had been taken off the real issues of importance at the company and it had also impacted on the morale of its workforce. Irreparable damage had been done to the company's corporate reputation by the stream of newspaper headlines.
Mr Brennan added that much of the media comment shad been based on leaked reports which has been constructed in a fashion so that maximum damage was done, in the reputation of one individual in particular. "This, I contend, has not happened by accident," he said, "and I want to contend that there is an agenda at play here in Bord na Mona. I think it is a disgraceful way to conduct an investigation, and it amounts to trial by selective media leaks."
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