Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

The Moriarty affair highlights a number of major problems that demand immediate resolution. Why did the Fine Gael and Labour Party Government of the day not prevent this from happening? How, as a State, can we create a fair system in which bids such as these can be evaluated? Another major question is on how Government parties have been funded in recent years. How can we investigate wrongdoings such as this without placing a disgusting cost on the shoulders of the Irish citizens? What level of real censure can we bring to bear on people guilty of such wrongs?

With regard to the first question on how Fine Gael and the Labour Party allowed this to happen, yesterday in his speech Deputy Lowry asked, "Does any politician here believe that John Bruton, Dick Spring and Proinsias De Rossa would be so stupid as to allow the likes of John Loughrey and me to pull the wool over their eyes in some way or other?" The answer to this question is in the 14 years and 2,438 pages of the report. Implicitly, it states that at the very least the wool was pulled over the eyes of the Fine Gael and Labour Party Government.

However, the report goes further than this. Not even a month into the Government's tenure, it is already entangled in allegations by an eminent tribunal judge. In addition to suggestions of unprecedented and inappropriate ministerial interference, serious questions have been asked about the flow of large funds through Fine Gael headquarters at the time when John Bruton was in charge. With regard to the $50,000 donation from Esat Digifone and Telenor to Fine Gael, the report states it is regrettable that Fine Gael and other parties to the transaction made no disclosure to the tribunal, even though they had a substantial degree of knowledge about the clandestine circumstances involved. Why, if this money was handed back, could Fine Gael not answer the tribunal? Is this the transparency and openness in public office that we can look forward to in the next term? Given the enormous sums of taxpayers' money that went into these tribunals, it is deeply unsettling that the Government cannot make these disclosures.

The statements and the actions of Fine Gael are striking. In 2001, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan stated:

All over the world, it is recognised that financial support from business to politicians is perceived by the public to have one purpose [namely] the securing of commercial advantage. Claims that such donations are made from disinterested motives are simply not believed. As the lurid tribunal scandals play out before our eyes, one thing is clear. We cannot restore politics until the perceived link between political contributions and public policy is broken.

While we can discuss Mr. Lowry, we must also have recourse to the other members of the Government who find themselves in Cabinet again. In the national interest, is it possible to have published the Cabinet papers of the then coalition Government which relate to the awarding of the mobile phone contract to Esat Digifone?

The Taoiseach, Deputy Kenny, has said that the report has exonerated Fine Gael Ministers, but have the events that occurred exonerated Ministers? One leads by example and the example that has been set by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael has been appalling. Political reform was one of the buzz words of the recent election. If the new Government is serious about political reform, if it is serious about openness, transparency, disclosure and bringing the political system closer to the people, now is the time to make a goodwill gesture to the people and publish all papers relating to this matter.

The tribunal findings are not just an indictment of an individual or maybe even a number of political parties but rather they are a shocking indictment of our whole political and justice system. That the rich and powerful can buy favour with the establishment political parties is shocking and deeply unfair. That there is no efficient system to bring wrong-doers to justice is also shocking. The tribunals have no teeth. The parties embroiled are still able to remain as Members of the Dáil or even compose the Government, yet, millions of euros of taxpayers' money has been used to produce a substantive document on foot of which there is no power to impose a serious sentence. The Moriarty tribunal report just lends more credence to the fact that our political and justice systems are in dire need of reform and that we need to design, implement and use a series of checks and balances to limit the scope for excess by the powerful. We need to ensure that our Constitution is a framework for government that allows for the exercise of political power which is in the ownership of its citizens. We need to ensure that our way of governing ourselves has the means to be successful for the common good with increased democratic accountability and the capacity to adapt to the changes that constantly descend upon it. Our citizens need to ensure that the State's decision-making processes are transparent, structured and disciplined. These structures need to inspire confidence.

The Oireachtas has consistently failed to exert sufficient scrutiny over the Government and public bodies. This is largely because it has not had the powers to perform these functions and many Members are distracted by clientelism. We need to copper-fasten new ways of governing ourselves to avoid the kind of muddling through, lethargy, lack of foresight and setbacks that blight previous efforts at reform. To ensure this, we need to crack down on white collar crime, strengthen laws and give the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation additional resources. There should be annual publication of independently-audited accounts by political parties, including income and expenditure accounts and a party balance sheet. I repeat the call made by my colleagues to the Government parties to publish a full list of donations to their parties. We need to reverse the dilution of the Freedom of Information Act and introduce legislation to protect whistleblowers. While I accept that these initiatives may take time to research consider and implement, there is nothing to stop political parties taking the last three steps themselves.

During the election, Sinn Féin said there was a pressing need to change the law to allow for the impeachment or removal of any Deputy from the Dáil involved in corruption, deliberate misuse of public money or fraud. With a total of €42 million, 14 years and more than 2,000 pages later, it is very clear that this needs to happen as a matter of priority. This is the reason Sinn Féin has tabled the motion before the House that Deputy Michael Lowry should be censured.

At a time when Irish people desperately need transparency in public life, when major political donations have been shown to adversely influence public affairs and when the nation's reputation has once again been sullied by how the issuing of a lucrative mobile phone licence was dealt with, the Government must now play a leading role in the political clean-up that needs to be undertaken. If the Government is serious about reform, it should provide us now with a timetable for the implementation of that reform. The reaction by the Government will be the litmus test of the capacity and will of the new Government to address corruption and to instigate genuine reform. Never again can we have a situation whereby corrupt or questionable dealings are referred to toothless tribunals.

The golden circle became the golden circus. We must not lose sight of the cost of this golden circus, as the tribunal has been called. The tribunal has cost €41 million. What can one get for €41 million? The previous Government's national recovery plan proposed to cut spending in a whole host of important areas. A total of €22 million was cut in schools capitation grants. There has been a significant reduction in funding throughout the State. We should bear in mind that this money means opportunity lost for the people of Ireland and that it is being taken out of their pockets.

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