Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is well known and well aired but the bid still stands. It is worth referring briefly from the report. On pages 18 and 19, it states:

The meetings between the former Minister and Mr McCourt gave cause for concern as they suggest ongoing engagement outside of any formal need for them to engage with each other in the normal course of the Department's business, including the State-led intervention under the NPB ...

Due to the limitations of the review process in the absence of formal minutes or meeting notes for a number of meetings, I am reliant on statements from the former Minister, Mr McCourt and other parties for verification of the purpose and content of these meetings. Therefore, I cannot unequivocally state that the State-led intervention under the national broadband plan was not discussed at the meetings between the former Minister and Mr McCourt outside of the procurement process.

However, based on my ongoing review of the procurement process as Process Auditor, and [having examined]

- the decision register;

- the evolution of the tender documents ... ;

- the evaluation of the process for each submission ... ;

- and the information that could has been available to the bidder through the contact with the former Minister;

I am satisfied that neither the former Minister nor Mr McCourt had the opportunity to influence the conduct of the tender process in favour of Granahan McCourt or otherwise.

I also believe that the decision of the former Minister to resign, thereby removing himself from the process, insulates the process from any apparent bias created by his engagements with Mr McCourt.

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