Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The subject of controversy raised by the Deputy has been examined in detail by two separate bodies. There is nothing to suggest that the Minister, Deputy Cullen, acted inappropriately in the matter in question. The House knows that when we drew up the terms of reference, care was taken to ensure that nothing would be done to pre-empt any investigation the Standards in Public Office Commission might decide to carry out.

By and large, Mr. Quigley was asked to address the issues relating to the procurement process and he concentrated his inquiry on that area. His report, which is in the public domain, shows that while there are issues we must improve on in the procurement process, the Minister did nothing wrong. The Standards in Public Office Commission found there was no basis on which to undertake an investigation.

With regard to what I intend to do, I have already stated that we will introduce new procedures to deal with these issues. The Cabinet has discussed and almost finalised these matters and the new procedures will be announced shortly. I hope this will alleviate the pressure with regard to this issue and tighten up the procurement system. The Department of Finance must also examine some aspects of the issue raised by Mr. Quigley. It will do that as part of a review it will undertake on procurement generally. We will follow up on the two aspects raised by Mr. Quigley.

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