The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, arranged for €1.5 million in Exchequer funds to be given to Maynooth College in his constituency after he was lobbied by the college president, it has emerged, writes Arthur Beesley, Political Reporter
No records were kept from the meeting, and no civil servants were present when Mr McCreevy met Mgr Dermot Farrell, president of St Patrick's College, Maynooth, according to Minister of State at the Department, Mr Tom Parlon.
"I am unaware of the precise date and location of this meeting, but I understand that no civil servant was present and no records were kept," Mr Parlon said in a letter last week to the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service, which is examining the special Exchequer allocation.
Mr Parlon said that grants of some €1.5 million over two years were sanctioned after the "oral representations" to Mr McCreevy from Mgr Farrell.
News of the allocation follows controversy over Mr McCreevy's approval of funding for the Punchestown Centre and his granting of major tax breaks last year to a private hospital after he was lobbied by a doctor in his constituency.
Fine Gael claimed yesterday that sporting, community and arts groups had to meet much tougher criteria than the university whenever they sought taxpayers' money for special projects.
However a spokesman for Mr McCreevy said there was nothing unusual in the Minister meeting Mgr Farrell, and the release of funding to the college.
"Maynooth is in the Minister's constituency. The president of Maynooth made a case regarding a pressing need for the work."
A Fine Gael member of the committee, Mr Paul McGrath, said it appeared that no technical or planning information was provided before Mr McCreevy decided to release funding to the university.
"Perhaps the significance of the disregard for normal procedures can be explained by the fact that this project was in the Minister's constituency," he said.
Mr McCreevy's spokesman, however, said there was no departure from procedure.
"There is nothing unusual about the provision of additional funding for projects which are of their nature once-off or time-limited."
He said there were precedents of similar payments to Christ Church Cathedral in Waterford, St Isidore's College in Rome and the Irish College in Paris.
Mr Parlon told the committee in March that the OPW "examined the schedule of works and found it satisfactory". The OPW had "confirmed that the price was competitive and represented value for money".