Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 24 Oct 1995

Vol. 457 No. 4

Written Answers. - CIE Report.

Ned O'Keeffe

Question:

209 Mr. E. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he will confirm that the Craig Gardner and Company report in relation to a CIE property at Horgan's Quay, Cork, states that it is based only on the information available to the firm and that it was precluded from communicating with certain relevant parties, that the report did not cover other options, when no deposit had been offered to accept and no contract had issued and, in order to avoid the Craig Gardner document being misconstrued, that it be tabled before Dáil Éireann. [15263/95]

Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications (Mr. Lowry)

The agreed terms of reference for the report commissioned by CIE required Craig Gardner and Company to establish the facts regarding the proposed disposal of the Horgan's Quay site and to report on their findings, including their views on compliance with CIE procedures or otherwise. Their report was to be prepared from the records of CIE, including board minutes, from their audit working papers files and from discussions with those CIE personnel who were involved.

Craig Gardner made it clear in their report that they had received full co-operation from all those to whom they had spoken in the course of their investigation and that no restrictions had been placed on the scope of their work.

At its meeting of 17 October 1995, the board of CIE decided that it did not wish to make the Craig Gardner report public.