Deputy Haughey has sought and has been given permission, with Deputy Geoghegan-Quinn, to raise on the Adjournment the award scheme to be known as Gaisce.
Adjournment Debate. - Gaisce Award Scheme.
At dtús, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leat as ucht an t-am seo a thabhairt dúinn le díospóireacht a bheith againn ar gnó a gcreidimid i bhFianna Fáil go bhfuil fíorthábhacht ag baint leis sa tír.
It is important for everybody that we set the background to the President's Award scheme. This scheme was initiated by the leader of my party, Deputy Charles J. Haughey, when he was Taoiseach some years ago. At that time the Minister for Youth and Sport, Deputy Tunney, met an American who was involved in the part financing of the Congressional Youth Awards in the United States. In 1982, when I was Minister for Youth an invitation issued from the Congressional Youth Award Committee in America to the then Taoiseach, Deputy Haughey, inviting him to attend the official first prize giving of the Congressional Youth Awards in the State of Minnesota. He declined the invitation and asked me to represent the Government, which I did. In the United States the Congressional Youth Award is looked on as being totally non-political in order to command the greatest possible public and political support. There are similar awards elsewhere — the President's Award here, the Duke of Edinburgh Award in the United Kingdom and so on.
After the inaugural awards in America the then Taoiseach and I set about setting up a committee to run the award here. We talked in terms of the chairman of the committee being somebody like a High Court Judge who would be totally non-political, and seen as such which I think is very important. As the Government are aware, no committee was appointed at that time. It was also felt that it was important for any committee to have the total support of all political parties. Thus, it was proposed that the holder of the Office of Ceann Comhairle, in this House, the holder of the Office of the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, the Taoiseach and the Leader of the Opposition of the day would be trustees of the committee and the President would be the overall director of any award. In that way if would be seen to have total support, not just political but in every other way as well.
The setting up of the present committee has caused a lot of pain, not just within the confines of this House, but among concerned citizens outside. We feel the committee have been totally politicised to the detriment not of the committee but of the award, first by the appointment of Dr. O'Reilly as management committee chairman, a person very prominently involved with Fine Gael, being a Fine Gael political activist and official fund raiser of the party. I do not think there is any necessity for as much pay off as has been given to this individual for his political personal patronage to Fine Gael. It was not enough to have Dr. O'Reilly as chairman, but the Government continued to appoint several members of the committee who were actively supportive or had membership of one or other of the parties in Government. It is necessary to mention only two of them — Mr. Niall Green, who is prominently associated with the Labour Party, and Dr. Fergus O'Farrell, who was appointed as Government Special Adviser to the Minister of State, Deputy Birmingham.
Now let us deal with the issuing of invitation to the awards and the ceremony. The invitation was issued to Áras an Uachtaráin which is the official residence of the President of Ireland. In the past the protocol was that, when an invitation issued to Áras an Uachtaráin, it was issued by the person who holds the office of President, not by anybody else. On this occasion the invitation was issued by Dr. O'Reilly, and I have my invitation here. My invitation was dated 25 October, which everybody will recall was last Friday, three days in advance of the launching of the award ceremony. As it was a bank holiday weekend, I was at home in my constituency and I received my invitation Tuesday morning, the day after the launching of the awards.
Deliberate.
Let us come now to the behaviour in Áras an Uachtaráin last Monday. The speech made by the management committee chairman, Dr. O'Reilly, was, to say the least, cynical, belittling and very flippant. He issued a gross insult not just to the holder of the Office of President of Ireland, Dr. Hillery, but, worse, than that, to the Office of the President, when he said he was delighted to welcome all those present to the creamery manager's house.
Disgraceful.
That has shades of a previous Fine Gael Minister making comments in relation to the President and the Office of the President of this country, which led to the very sad situation of the resignation of a President. I cannot, and I am sure nobody in this House could, condone that kind of flippant remark made by somebody who was supposedly in authority and who was going to be the management committee chairman of the President's award. Young people were present and have read in the newspapers about the whole President's Award scheme and the mishandling of its launching. When they receive an award, will they see it as being won by their personal achievement or will it be seen by them, as is conceived in the national media, as a reward for their political affiliation?
There is in circulation an information document on Gaisce, the President's Award. I wish to ask the Taoiseach or the Minister of State what portion, if any, of that document is written in the first official language of our State. If no portion of it is written in the Irish language, I would ask why.
We have watched the total mishandling of the award scheme. Being very concerned on this side of the House to giving our fullest commitment and support to an award as important to young people as Gaisce, the President's Award, we feel the only possible way of salvaging the award and making it into something decent that all of us can be proud of is the voluntary standing down of the present committee, or a request by the Government that they stand down, and their replacement by a totally non-political, non-partisan committee which will command universal support through the length and breadth of this country and outside.
I merely wish to add that I am in full agreement with everything that Deputy Geoghegan-Quinn has said about this unfortunate and unhappy development. When we were in Government we approached this matter from a point of view of high principle. We were desperately anxious that it should be something special to young people, totally above board, non-political, non-partisan in every way. We were very conscious at that time that everything we did was subject to the most virulent political attack from the then Opposition and for that reason we were very careful and scrupulous to ensure that this scheme could not be assailed or attacked by anybody. We had hoped that if successful it would lead to the solution of another problem, namely, the problem of some honours system in this State which has so far lamentably failed to get off the ground under any Government. We thought that if this award scheme for young people could be launched and got under way in a totally constructive, non-partisan, non-political atmosphere, it would serve as a headline to be followed on a broader scene. Unfortunately it was not to be.
I am surprised and appalled at what has happened. The selection of Dr. O'Reilly, with all his well-known, well-publicised connections, was a lamentable mistake. I have since learned through the courtesy of my friend, the Minister of State, that the membership of the committee was Dr. O'Reilly's personal selection. This is equally mystifying. Apart from the political associations of some of the people concerned, there is also the fact that there is a preponderence of people who adhere to the rugby tradition. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. There are rugby afficionados on this side of the House, as there are on every side, but when setting up a scheme which is supposed to cover all aspects of national life, and in particular all aspects of sport, to select a committee of that kind is to my mind so patently stupid that it is difficult to visualise how it could have happened. I wonder where is the limit to reward to Dr. O'Reilly for his support and that of his newspapers for Fine Gael in particular and for the Coalition Government in general. For good measure, the chairman or deputy chairman of Independent Newspapers was put on the committee. If we are to have media representation, are the other national newspapers not worthy of some representation?
Deputy Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has dealt with the unbelievable events that took place in Áras an Uachtaráin last Monday and the manner in which the invitations were issued. I believe a firm of public relations consultants were involved. At least they were making statements in the newspapers about who was invited and who was not invited, as if they had decided who should be invited to Áras an Uachtaráin. The invitations which we received bore a telephone number and we were asked to RSVP. It turned out to be a telephone number in the IDA where another person was involved at that level. Now I believe an executive director has been appointed. How was he appointed? Who appointed him? What are his qualifications?
The whole situation is totally unsatisfactory and I have to say that it appears to us to be a piece of naked, political opportunism by the Government and by the Taoiseach, a reward to friends for support. It is absolutely humiliating that a scheme which was intended to be of such a high calibre and to be above reproach has been dealt with in this way and in particular that the President and Áras an Uachtaráin should have been dragged into it. I did not hear the speech made by the chairman but the Taoiseach was there and he heard it. I understand it was totally unseemly and unbefitting to such an occasion.
In view of all that has happened I want to support Deputy Máire Geoghegan-Quinn's suggestion that the only decent thing now is for Dr. O'Reilly and the committee to resign and for the Government to appoint a new committee which would be appropriate and in accordance with the principles which we set out for the committee. I do not know if this scheme can be retrieved at this stage but I hope it can. We on this side of the House are prepared to make any contribution which is called for from us to help to retrieve it. We insist if we are to be involved and if our support is to be sought that the first step is for the present chairman and his committee to resign because they have demonstrated themselves to be totally unsuitable to be in charge of this scheme.
First of all I should like to refer to Deputy Haughey's statement this morning that a question from him to me, apparently in relation to this matter, has been transferred by me to the Minister for Labour. I presume that Deputy Haughey was referring to a question from Deputy Máire Geoghegan-Quinn asking me to make a statement on the arrangements for the operation of an award scheme to be known as Gaisce, the President's Award. I want to say that the transfer of this question was affected in good faith but without my knowledge and that, in view of the fact that the matter in question relates to the President, it is my view — and I would have so acted if the matter had been brought to my attention at the time — that this is a question to which I should reply and that is why I am taking this matter on the Adjournment.
Deputy Haughey, by way of a supplementary question to a parliamentary question from Deputy Durkan regarding the introduction of a New Year's honours list, asked in the Dáil on 23 October if I was prepared to make a statement to the House on what was involved in the Gaisce scheme. In response I gave some brief information on the scheme and mentioned that it would be launched by the President at Áras An Uachtaráin on 28 October.
Subsequently at my request the Minister of State, Deputy George Birmingham, wrote to Deputy Haughey forwarding details of the President's Award scheme. In his letter the Minister of State said in regard to the issue of invitations for the launch that the Secretary to the President had advised the Secretariat of the Award that invitations should not issue in the name of the President and that in these circumstances the invitations were issued in the name of the chairman of Gaisce. He also affirmed that it was the intention to have political balance in the Award Committee and that when this was being established that I would have full consultations with Deputy Haughey.
I do not want to pursue that matter further, but allegations have been made and Dr. O'Reilly has been described as a Fine Gael activist and fund raiser. Let me say that that description is not correct.
The point was raised by Deputy Geoghegan-Quinn that somebody like a High Court judge should have been approached. I understand that when the scheme was mooted originally a number of people, at least three, were approached by the previous Government, none of whom was a High Court judge and that the list drawn up of people for the committee included people who certainly are very actively associated with the party then in power. I do not want to press that point, but I do not think the matter is quite as one-sided as was suggested from the other side of the House.
I have been informed by the Secretary to the President that he informed the ad hoc committee that a suggestion that the invitations to the ceremony would be issued on behalf of the President was inappropriate. His view was that preparations leading up to the launching of the scheme were the responsibility of the ad hoc committee, and that while the President was patron and had consented to give the facility of the Aras for the launching of the scheme, in addition to performing the official launching, the invitations should be sent out on behalf of the ad hoc committee. The ad hoc committee, although disappointed by this advice — they made considerable attempts to have it altered — felt obliged ultimately to act on it and were, in fact given the time constraints, left with no alternative but to do so. I understand that the President was not directly involved in the arrangements for the issue of the invitations and that any change from normal procedures was made without the President being aware of it. I would add that I share the view that the invitations should have been issued in the President's name.
Neither my Department nor the Department of Labour had any involvement in the issue of the invitations. Indeed, I knew nothing about it until the matter was raised in this House by Deputy Haughey. As I have said, the arrangements were made direct between the committee of Gaisce and Áras an Uachtaráin.
It has been suggested that the President has been treated casually in relation to the Gaisce scheme. I must reject that criticism. I had a discussion with the President on this matter earlier this month and at my request the Minister of State, Deputy George Birmingham, together with representatives of the ad hoc committee for the scheme discussed the matter fully with the President on 3 October last. The detailed arrangements for the launching ceremony were, as I have already indicated, agreed between the Secretary to the President and the ad hoc committee. Accordingly, there is no basis in fact for any suggestion that the Office of the President has been slighted or treated casually and I would be determined that that would not happen under any circumstances.
When the award scheme is established it is the intention, in accordance with the original decision, that a permanent award authority be appointed. I can confirm, as indicated by the Minister of State, Deputy Birmingham, in his letter to the leader of the Opposition of 25 October, that it is our intention to have political balance in the Gaisce committee and that when it is established I will, as promised, arrange to have full consultations with Deputy Haughey and ensure that the membership of the committee is balanced and that there will be no question of it being capable of being represented as being in any way political or politicised.
Deputy Geoghegan-Quinn raised the question about the use of the Irish language. The literature for the scheme is available in both languages and I have copies here. I think that matter is covered adequately and I will be happy to give to Deputy Geoghegan-Quinn a copy of the Irish and English versions afterwards.
Finally, I regret that a remark by Dr. O'Reilly, intended in a good humoured way, has been seen as flippant and I accept that it was not appropriate to an occasion of this kind.
The Dáil adjourned at 5.25 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 5 November 1985.