Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Final Report of the Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments. Most, if not all, speakers have welcomed the publication of the report. I hope people will understand that I wish to deal with the specific aspect of the final report which refers to me in my capacity as the former financial controller of the Fianna Fáil Party.

Last Thursday evening after the publication of the report I issued a press release which stated:

The tribunal report, most probably inadvertently, implied that I, in my capacity as former Financial Controller of Fianna Fáil, was aware of the IR£50,000 payment to Mr. Pádraig Flynn by Mr. Tom Gilmartin. This is simply not the case.

There was no suggestion at any time at the tribunal or at public session that I was aware of Mr. Flynn's involvement in this matter. It is also clear from the tribunal's own findings issued today that while other people were made aware of Mr. Flynn's involvement, there is no suggestion that I had any knowledge on this matter.

However since an incorrect statement has been made against me which has significant consequences for me as a serving politician and Chartered Accountant I believe and hope that the tribunal will move to correct this small but significant error.

Arising from this I then wrote to the tribunal on Friday, 23 March, and addressed my correspondence to Ms Susan Gilvarry, Solicitor, The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments, Upper Castle Yard, Dublin Castle, Dublin 2. The letter stated:

Re: The Final Report.

Dear Ms. Gilvarry,

I am writing to you in respect of the Final Report published yesterday by the Tribunal Judges.

At page 2,460 of the Report (Chapter 17) the Report reaches the following finding in respect of the knowledge within Fianna Fáil of Mr. Tom Gilmartin's payment of £50,000 to Mr. Pádraig Flynn. At paragraph 6 on page 2,460 the Tribunal reports:

"Neither Mr. Ahern, nor Mr. Reynolds, nor Mr. Sherwin, nor Mr. Kavanagh, nor Mr. Fleming contacted Mr. Flynn in relation to Mr. Gilmartin's payment of IR£50,000 at any time prior to the establishment of this Tribunal".

This finding is a negative finding against me because it asserts that I had knowledge that Mr. Gilmartin had paid IR£50,000 to Mr. Flynn and did nothing about it. I think this finding is clearly an error since, as the Tribunal will be aware, at no stage was there ever any evidence before the Tribunal that I, as Financial Controller of Fianna Fáil in 1990, had been informed that the IR£50,000 payment made by Mr. Gilmartin had been made to Mr. Flynn.

The Tribunal will be aware that the reason I became involved in this part of the Inquiry was because Mr. Paul Kavanagh [the party fund-raiser] gave evidence that, in order to determine whether Mr. Gilmartin had in fact made a payment of £50,000, he had contacted me as Financial Controller in order to see whether there was a record of any such donation within Fianna Fáil.

At no stage did Mr. Kavanagh suggest to the Tribunal, nor was there ever any evidence before the Tribunal that I had been informed by Mr. Kavanagh or anyone else that the £50,000 payment made by Mr. Gilmartin had been made to Mr. Flynn.

On 30 June 2004, day 501 of the public sittings of the tribunal I gave evidence in the following terms.

Q.104Did Mr. Kavanagh inform you of any potential involvement by Mr. Padraig Flynn in this payment?

A.Certainly not because I had no knowledge of Padraig Flynn's involvement until it became public in recent years.

Q.So you reverted to Mr. Kavanagh and told him that the books and records show no such payment had [in] fact been paid?

A.Yes.

Q.Is that everything that you did?

A.That's the beginning and end of it."

I was then questioned quite intensively by Counsel for the Tribunal about the query raised with me by Mr. Kavanagh. However, at no stage was it ever suggested to me that I had been made aware that Mr. Gilmartin had informed others within Fianna Fáil that the donation had been made to Mr. Flynn. In fact, it was expressly recognised by Counsel for the Tribunal in her questioning No. 130, page 53, were she stated:

"Q.130If you had become aware at the time in 1990 that £50,000 had been destined for Fianna Fail, had not arrived, and had remained with Mr. Flynn, what steps would you have taken?

A.No this is a hypothetical situation. I make it clear in my statement, I had no knowledge of Mr. Flynn's involvement at that time.

Q.I said if?' (Emphasis Added)

[It is clear she was putting this to me as a hypothetical situation.]

As a serving member of Dáil Éireann and chartered accountant, I have been subjected to considerable criticism and adverse comment because of this negative finding against me in the tribunal's final report. Already on the airwaves and in public discourse I have been criticised for my failure to contact Mr. Flynn in relation to the payment of £50,000 by Mr. Gilmartin. I never knew that the donation I was asked to check for was a donation that was made through Mr. Flynn. No one ever mentioned that to me, as is clear from the evidence given to the tribunal.

I think the finding of the tribunal is clearly incorrect and I would simply ask that the tribunal would write me a letter recognising that the finding against me in paragraph 6 on page 2,460 is an error. I would greatly appreciate it the tribunal could seek to rectify this matter as best it can as otherwise it will continue to result in significant reputational damage to me which is undeserved.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Yours sincerely,

Sean Fleming.

I received a reply from the tribunal yesterday, dated 26 March. It states:

Dear Mr. Fleming,

I refer to the above and to your letter of the 23rd March received 26th March, 2012.

I confirm that I am directed by the Chairman of the Tribunal to respond to you regarding your correspondence.

The Chairman has indicated that his co-Tribunal Members, Her Honour Judge Mary Faherty and his Honour Judge Gerard Keys, have this week been assigned to Court duties.

Accordingly, they are not available to the Chairman of the Tribunal at this time for the purpose of discussing the matters set out in your correspondence.

Arrangements will be made later in the week or early next week for the Tribunal Members to meet to discuss the concerns set out in your correspondence and I will revert to you at that time.

I trust this is in order.

Yours sincerely,

Susan Gilvarry,

Solicitor to the Tribunal.

By way of context, I have a proven track record in situations where I believe a donation to the Fianna Fáil Party was not transmitted to Fianna Fáil head office. I refer specifically to the Fitzwilton Rennicks donation to Fianna Fáil through former Minister and Deputy, Ray Burke. On 8 June 1989 Ray Burke handed a bank draft for £10,000 to Paul Kavanagh, party fund-raiser and myself in respect of the above company. I was not satisfied that £10,000 was the full amount of the contribution. Both of us confronted Ray Burke directly on the matter. We then spoke to the then party leader, the late Charles Haughey, and informed him that the party nationally was left short changed in respect of this donation.

On 1 July 1998, I made a statement in the Dáil highlighting the full details of this matter. I sent a copy of this statement to the planning tribunal the following morning. On 28 October 1998, I met with the tribunal legal team in private session on the matter. I also met with detectives from the Criminal Assets Bureau in late 2003 and assisted them in their inquiries in relation to Ray Burke. The record is clear and shows that I always pursue matters of this nature. This is a clear example that when I have knowledge of an issue I do follow it up. I have also stated that there is an error in relation to the findings against me because it asserts I had knowledge of Mr. Flynn's involvement in the matter. This is not true.

Previous speakers in this debate accepted in full the findings of this report. The finding with which I am concerned is finding No. 6 on page 2,460. Unfortunately for me, pending a correction I am included in that finding. A previous speaker in this debate relying on this finding stated that there is no excuse for the failure to confront Mr. Flynn with this allegation at the time and that there is no doubt that it formed part of the political culture which ignored or dismissed allegations of corruption rather than properly investigating them. In the same way that I cannot accept the tribunal's findings against me, as it is an error, I cannot accept the veracity of the above comments by a previous speaker. I reject that I failed to confront Mr. Flynn as it implies I had knowledge of his involvement, which is simply not the case. In the reference to the so-called "political culture" it must also be made clear that it is incorrect to implicate me by association with this. I will also be seeking to have this matter rectified.

I look forward to the tribunal recognising that its finding against me is an error and ask those who have accepted and relied on that finding and have compounded the error in this House also to recognise their mistakes.

See this speech in context