Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday morning the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, was on RTÉ with regard to the famous champagne-gate. The Minister made the point that the report, which many of us do not accept, now concluded the matter. There was some reference to the fine, or the request, to the then Secretary General of the Department to make a contribution of €2,000. This was supposed to be it, that it was all over and done with and we will move on, thank you very much. The Secretary General moved from his position to one of the most luxurious ambassadorial posts this country has. He moved with his salary of €213,000 per year, which is about one and a half times or twice the salary paid to any other ambassador. The Minister spoke about reputational damage and that the former Secretary General would have to live with reputational damage. But I do not believe it will do him any harm where he is. I also do not believe that he will be too worried about the €2,000 he has to pay. There was a strong case made to put this behind us and to move on but it is not that easy. Many families in the State suffered horrendously over the period of Covid. I do not believe it is good enough to say that it is over and done with now. Of those who were there at the time, two have been appointed into ambassadorial roles at a salary much higher than any other ambassador. Six of the people out of the 25 who were there have been promoted. This really does not bode well for this organisation. It suggests that something in what Deputy McGuinness said in the Irish Examiner some weeks ago is actually true: that we are not in charge of the organisation, that somebody else is, which is the permanent government.

I have said it at the committee and I will be saying it again, that Mr. Burgess must come before the Oireachtas joint committee and explain himself, as must Mr. Rogers and Mr. Concannon who were the senior people there on the night. It is not good enough to just wipe it away and forget about it is not that easy.

Finally, I would like to join in with the remembrance of Mr. Noel Treacy. He was a giant of man in Galway, not just in the county but also in the city. He was an extremely pleasant man to meet. Even though all of my family were Fine Gael, he was always decent to us when he met us.