Criminal and paramilitary figures were the ultimate beneficiaries of State funds intended to provide accommodation for asylum seekers, according to Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe.
Calling for an independent examination by the Comptroller & Auditor General of spending by the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA), particularly in relation to procurement, Mr O'Keeffe said it spent about €18 million a year and did not publish an annual report.
"It has been suggested to me that significant criminal and paramilitary figures have, in a number of instances, been the ultimate beneficiaries of the Minister's largesse through this agency," he said and called for the Criminal Assets Bureau to be alerted.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said, however, that there was "no question" of largesse by him in relation to accommodation but if the TD had information about alleged paramilitary or criminal beneficiaries, he would act on it immediately.
Mr O'Keeffe made the allegation in the Dáil during justice questions when he suggested that "sweetheart" deals might have been made when properties were being acquired for the State and that they involved "information being available from within the agency or by those attached to the agency for the purpose of alerting people on a favourable basis to arrange contracts".
He had voiced concern about the State's purchase of four properties intended to accommodate asylum seekers but which were never used for that purpose.
Mr McDowell said the properties in Rosslare, Carlow, Donnybrook, Dublin and Macroom, Co Cork, "were all acquired before I became Minister". Of all the properties acquired by the State, these were the four where no compromise could be reached with the local community.
When the Fine Gael deputy said he was not referring to the properties, Mr McDowell said that if Mr O'Keeffe had information "that money I or my predecessor expended is ultimately going to criminal or paramilitary beneficiaries, I would like to receive it. I will act immediately on foot of such information and try to confirm it. If confirmed, I would take every step to get the Cab to recover such moneys."
Mr McDowell said: "We should be fair and the deputy will appreciate the open-tendering procedure is fraught with difficulties" and "at the time these properties were acquired, there was a major crisis". He stressed that at no time did the RIA act without the advice of the Attorney General's office. Outlining the extent of the accommodation crisis for asylum seekers at the time the properties were acquired, Mr McDowell said that in the winter of 1999 the number of people claiming asylum tripled from 826 in the early part of the year to 3,278 at the end of the year, with 5,500 new applications in the first six months of 2000.
"In a matter of months, a situation which was manageable became virtually unmanageable."
Of the four properties, the Macroom premises are still the subject of legal proceedings, while Broc House in Donnybrook is being considered as a community-based health care facility. The Carlow property has been transferred to the Department of Health as a facility for autistic children and the Rosslare Harbour Devereux Hotel was sold.
