James Bannon (Fine Gael)

Prior to becoming a Member of the Oireachtas, I looked forward to the exciting responsibilities and challenges that would come with election, but since entering this House I have been saddened to note that the issue causing most concern to the public is the trustworthiness of the Government parties and their public representatives in the Oireachtas and on local authorities. I agree with the Minister that the vast majority of representatives are honest and decent people, but the wrong ones cast a shadow over us all. Again and again, the trustworthiness of certain politicians is questioned on doorsteps, at political meetings and clinics to the extent that it seriously impedes the functioning of the body politic. It is to be hoped that after Mr. Justice Flood has rattled the Celtic tiger's cage, we will have woken up to the damage corruption wreaks in any society and will do our utmost to stamp it out. Exchanges between cowboy builders and Ministers of brown envelopes full of cash make for good television and radio, but it is always the case with corruption that the public picks up the tab eventually. Corruption is the abuse of power and it is always those without it who suffer the consequences.

Having read the conclusions on pages 138 to 140 of Mr. Justice Flood's comprehensive and excellent interim report, it is more than clear to me why there is such public concern. In those pages is outlined a damning series of conclusions in relation to the activities of Mr. Ray Burke, a man I have never met yet whose activities threatened to undermine my efforts on behalf of the people and the efforts of us all faithfully to carry out our work. It is the opinion of the tribunal that the transfer of Briargate to Mr. Burke amounted to a corrupt payment to him from Mr. Tom Brennan and his associates. Payments were made into offshore bank accounts controlled by Mr. Burke which were funded jointly by Mr. Tom Brennan and Mr. Joseph McGowan and the tribunal is satisfied that on the balance of probabilities these payments were made in the interest of these men in relation to the performance of Mr. Burke's public duties. The tribunal also reports that a payment of £35,000 was made to Mr. Burke by Mr. Barry and Members and the public will be aware of what happened to RTE after that. Mr. Justice Flood further reports that what amounted to a corrupt payment was made at Briargate to Mr. Burke in June 1989. All of this leads me to request the Taoiseach and the Minister to investigate the key decisions made by the then Minster for Communications.