Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)

In its conclusion the report refers to the corrosive and destructive impact of corruption on society. Not only does it undermine the democratic process, but it has also damaging social effects. We can see that by considering some of the planning decisions that were made in Dublin where communities were housed not on the basis of proper planning for communities' needs but solely on the basis of who owned the land and what companies and individuals were involved. That corruption did not begin with the events of the individuals dealt with in the report. It dates back to the 1960s and involves several leading members of the Fianna Fáil Party. That created a culture of corruption in which many of those who rose to prominence regarded their elected positions and positions held in government as a licence to earn large amounts of money by selling their influence and votes.

Of course, that extended beyond planning and we must assume that if a nexus of corruption existed between property, land and politics, other aspects of commercial life were also affected. The Moriarty report lifted the veil on some of that regarding the mobile phone licences. There are also strong grounds for believing that significant concessions to other businesses were made because certain people were involved in an unhealthy relationship with businesses which benefitted from tax and other concessions. We know some of that from what we know of what was going on in the beef industry.

It is also no coincidence that several of the stars of the Mahon and other reports on planning corruption were also involved in other murky areas. At the time of the Flood report which dealt with Ray Burke, I called for its remit to be extended into other areas where Ray Burke had significant influence and where questionable decisions had been made to the benefit of big business. I specifically referred in that context to the changes that had been made to the revenue and licensing terms given to the oil and gas exploration companies. Those changes have subsequently been defended even by former critics in the Labour Party on the basis that they make economic sense. Not only do they not make economic sense but the reasons they were changed had nothing to do with the economics of oil and gas exploration. At least they did not have anything to do with the economic interests of this State and its citizens.

We are all well aware of the Galway tent and that for X thousand pounds a person could sit and have a chat with a Minister. I raised the matter in this House on numerous occasions. I also asked what contribution Enterprise Oil gave to the Fianna Fáil Party or to Fianna Fáil members. I challenge Fianna Fáil to state what that party and its members received from the oil companies. There are mucky waters there. Issuing licences to companies at a vastly reduced rate should be investigated. There is an onus on the Fianna Fáil leadership to state what it got from Enterprise Oil and other oil companies and there is also an onus on the oil companies to disclose what they gave to Fianna Fáil and their involvement in the Galway tent.

The changes made to the revenue and licensing terms benefited the companies and continue to benefit them. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility to suggest that they benefitted certain individuals who were central to implementing those changes. At the very least that deserves investigation as does the close relationship between Fianna Fáil in government and certain of the beneficiaries of the Corrib deal.

In all of the cases of proven or suspected corruption the citizens of the State pay the price in terms of bad planning, social decay and the loss of economic benefits. That destroys the myth that was put about by some people that the takers of bribes and the dispensers of favours were in some way oiling the wheels of the economy. It is clear that they were not. It is also apparent that corrupt politicians complemented corrupt businessmen and speculators. That relationship flourished during the years of the Celtic tiger for which some of those politicians claimed much of the credit.

This report proves that not only were they parasites feeding off the property boom, but that they were also implementing decisions that in the end had harmful - one might say catastrophic - effects on this society. There is little doubt that the speculative frenzy and all that went with that including Anglo Irish Bank were in large part fuelled by corruption.

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