At the outset let me say I remain absolutely committed to the principles I set out in this House and elsewhere in regard to the need for absolute financial propriety and probity in the conduct of our public affairs. The issue of financial contributions to political parties has dogged and continues to dog democratic politics in many parts of the western world. I share the determination of everyone in this House that we have clear rules strictly observed so as to maintain full public confidence in the political process. Financial contributions to politicians should be made for strictly political purposes, be clearly accounted for and given with no other motive than the good government of this country and support for the democratic system as a whole.
In the past this was a relatively unregulated area. I have contributed in Government and Opposition to establishing tighter rules and guidelines. I deeply regret any departures in my party or any other party from the high standards that should have always been required. Where controversy or legitimate public concern arises or facts that have not hitherto been known come to light, they must be fully disclosed to the appropriate authority.
All of us in this House have a common interest in ensuring full clarity where there has been cause for concern. The tribunals we have established are, in my opinion, the best vehicle for following up any new disclosures if they can be brought within their jurisdiction and we should not try today to prejudice, pre-empt or cut across their work. That said, I am willing to listen to and consider any points put to me by other Deputies in this House.
Coming to the specifics of the case, let me say at the outset that Fianna Fáil has operated in a proper, transparent and above-board fashion in this matter. It has taken the appropriate action and has promised and provided its fullest co-operation to the Flood tribunal.
Earlier today, remarks I made while Leader of the Opposition were recalled. Those remarks, made at the time of the Dunne's tribunal, were that what matters most is how a political party reacts to knowledge when it becomes available. I am proud to say that in this matter, Fianna Fáil has lived up 100 per cent to this stern challenge by making available additional information that had not been specifically requested to the tribunal that has been delegated by the Dáil to deal with this matter. This will also become clear when I outline the sequence of events.
The Flood tribunal made an order for discovery and an order for production against the Fianna Fáil Party on 20 February 1998. There was nothing unusual in this and we understand that a variety of orders of discovery and inspection have been made by the tribunal against a number of persons including other political parties. The order for discovery dealt with contributions made by Mr. James Gogarty, Mr. Michael Bailey or any person or company connected with them. In addition, the tribunal sought discovery of documents relating to the payment of any sums of money by former Deputy Ray Burke to the Fianna Fáil national organisation since 1 January 1989.
An extensive affidavit of discovery was furnished by Fianna Fáil to the tribunal on 1 April 1998. At no stage prior to the delivery of the affidavit of discovery had the tribunal ever asked any questions of Fianna Fáil in relation to Rennicks, the Fitzwilton subsidiary referred to in Magill. It was the Fianna Fáil Party which volunteered and disclosed through the discovery process documentation in relation to Rennicks as was its bounden duty.
The first time I found out about Rennicks was when the affidavit of discovery for the Flood tribunal was being prepared by Fianna Fáil party officials. That affidavit was prepared in the weeks immediately before 1 April when a massive and exhaustive trawl of the party's files and books of nine years ago was undertaken. I was appraised in the latter half of March of the discoveries and full disclosure was made to the tribunal. It took some time to establish from the company concerned that it had a corresponding record confirming the contribution.
The affidavit, sworn on behalf of Fianna Fáil, discovered documents available to the party relating to the Rennicks transaction. The Fianna Fáil Party did receive from Ray Burke a contribution of £10,000 by way of bank draft. This was, in the normal course of events, credited to the account of the party.
The following documents were later discovered: (a) an official party receipt made out in the name of Rennicks acknowledging receipt of a sum of £10,000; (b) an extract from the cash receipts book showing the contribution from Rennicks to the sum of £10,000, and (c) a photocopy of a compliment slip from Rennicks accompanying the donation which also bore the name of Ray Burke.
Up to then, I had been given to understand that the £10,000 received by Fianna Fáil from Ray Burke in 1989 was drawn from a contribution he had received from Joseph Murphy Structural Engineering, and, even bearing in mind that he would certainly have received other smaller contributions, it was reasonable to presume that in the main it came from that source. The reason for this belief was because our inquiries last summer and last autumn had concentrated on establishing, following media allegations, if Ray Burke had received a large donation in 1989 from JMSE or people associated with it; if so, were there any special reasons; and if, as claimed, Fianna Fáil had received a £10,000 draft from Ray Burke.
Deputy Dermot Ahern travelled to London at my request to conduct an interview with the principal of JMSE. He was examining the array of allegations about whether Ray Burke had received a donation from JMSE or others involved in it, the amount and whether there were any special circumstances surrounding it. He was asked to do a specific task and he did that in a thorough fashion. Indeed, a full account of the Minister's inquiry is being furnished to the Flood tribunal.
At one stage, there were claims that Mr. Burke received £80,000 from that company or its principals leading to endless speculation about why he had been given the money so it was most prudent that we made our inquiries. I inquired as to whether Ray Burke had paid £10,000 to Fianna Fáil. It was quickly confirmed to me that Fianna Fáil had received a £10,000 draft from Ray Burke in 1989. My assumption was that this cheque came from the JMSE money or mainly from it.
I was not aware at the time Ray Burke made his statement in the Dáil that the £10,000 paid to the Fianna Fáil Party by Mr. Burke came from Rennicks. I similarly did not know that he had received, not one contribution of £30,000 in June 1989 but two amounting to £60,000, nor could this reasonably be inferred from his statement to the Dáil. I was apprised of these facts in the course of the preparation of the affidavit of discovery. It is a pity they were not brought to light earlier for the benefit of the House last autumn when the ministerial statement was made. I could not have clarified this on 5 September last year or at the time of Mr. Burke's statement in the Dáil because I knew nothing about Rennicks until we were in the course of preparing the affidavit.
It was the Fianna Fáil Party which disclosed to the tribunal the documentation in relation to Rennicks and that we only received one £10,000 contribution by way of bank draft from Mr. Ray Burke in 1989. At no stage prior to the delivery of the affidavit of discovery had the tribunal ever asked questions of Fianna Fail in relation to Rennicks. We were the ones who told it about Rennicks.
Some have suggested that I should have come to the House when these matters were discovered. There is surely no straighter, more direct or appropriate way to declare something than to swear it in an affidavit and to send the documents we had on this to the tribunal established by the Dáil and delegated to investigate the matters.
We deemed that the appropriate and most correct way to deal with this was to give what we had discovered to the tribunal and let it investigate it further and come to conclusions. As the House knows, Mr. Justice Flood has been appointed to investigate these issues and he should be allowed to do so without there being a parallel process ongoing in this House.
Fianna Fáil is giving full co-operation to the tribunal. Last week the lawyers for the tribunal contacted the solicitors to Fianna Fáil. The purpose of that contact was to arrange for inspection of the original documentation as discovered and disclosed in our affidavit and as furnished to them. On Tuesday the lawyers for the tribunal carried out an inspection of the original documentation as discovered. An official of the Fianna Fáil Party was present at that inspection to give assistance to the tribunal.
We will continue to give the fullest co-operation to the tribunal which should be allowed to continue with its work and our job will be to debate the tribunal's report and ensure appropriate remedial action is taken on foot of its recommendations. It was my conviction last autumn and remains my conviction today that due process should be followed.
The concerns I have expressed over an appropriate ethics commission which would be in a position to investigate allegations of this nature make it all the more urgent to have this legislation processed as quickly as possible. The Minister for Finance intends urgently proceeding with this.
