The Government last night confirmed that its working relationship with the public relations consultant Ms Monica Leech has ended after her controversial contract with the Department of the Environment lapsed yesterday.
Ms Leech's friend, Mr Martin Cullen, was Minister in the Department when she was hired to provide communications advice at a rate of €650-€800 per day. She has received more than €300,000 for this work.
A spokesman for the Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche, said there were no plans to rehire Ms Leech after her contract reached its conclusion. "Her contract is up and there's no plan whatsoever to renew it. He doesn't need that particular service any more. Nobody in the Department has indicated to the Minister that the contract should be renewed."
While former Revenue chairman Mr Dermot Quigley has found that Mr Cullen did not breach established procedures in relation to the contract, he said Mr Cullen left himself open to a perception of impropriety by proposing his friend for the job.
The Minister's activities are the subject of separate scrutiny by the Standards in Public Office Commission, which has sought legal advice on the case.
The commission is seeking to examine the issues raised by the controversy in the context of the Ethics in Public Office Act. However, some politicians said privately that they believed the commission will not proceed with a full investigation on the basis that the evidence in the case does not point to a prima facie breach of ethics legislation.
