Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 13 June 2013

Public Accounts Committee

Statement by Chairman

11:50 am

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will step us through the correspondence to keep us somewhat focused and with an eye on the clock. I put it to Deputy McGuinness that this official was an assistant secretary. Let us take that window into what occurred. It strikes me that the official did not view it simply as a casual throwaway consideration.

Let us move forward to the correspondence of Deputy McGuinness. I understand it was sent by e-mail on 29 August. I accept that Deputy McGuinness has said that it was written a long time ago and that all of us have written letters at times that we could have couched in better terms. However, the language used is quite strong. Deputy McGuinness said he would not be intimidated. This suggests to me objectively that what we were dealing with was not simply a casual request followed by a flurry of activity among civil servants and a response. I suggest it was more charged than that. Following an objective read of the words on the page, that is the impression one forms.

I call on Deputy McGuinness to reassure the committee that in his tenure as a Minister of State at no stage did he attempt to force a situation with officials to succumb to his wishes in respect of the travel of his spouse. I call on Deputy McGuinness to tell the committee that this was in fact the case.

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