Vol. 492 No. 2
48 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Finance if his Department has located all of the outstanding files sought by the Moriarity tribunal; if he will list any files still outstanding; the efforts, if any, being made to locate these; the review, if any, he has initiated of filing procedures in view of the difficulty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13570/98]
On 16 December 1997 the Tribunal of Inquiry (Payments to Messrs. Charles Haughey and Michael Lowry) served an order for production on me, as Minister for Finance, relating to documents pertaining to the operation of exchange controls in the years 1954 to 1993, inclusive. This production order also covered the Central Bank. The Central Bank was delegated responsibility for the day to day operation of exchange controls with effect from 3 May 1965. This order did not specify any particular file or document and required that all documents be produced.
When the order for production was received, I immediately wrote to the Governor and authorised the Central Bank to take all the steps necessary to comply with the order. I also directed my Department to ensure that all relevant documents should be produced and that every assistance be given to the tribunal. The process followed by the Department in relation to the production order was one which was adopted, in consultation with legal advice, with a view to offering the maximum assistance to the tribunal.
Despite the most strenuous efforts on the part of the Department, it has not been possible to locate some of the files listed on the Department's register of files relating to the operation of exchange controls for the period in question. A listing of the files covered by the Order for Production together with a listing of those files which have not been located was forwarded to the Tribunal of Inquiry (Payments to Messrs. Charles Haughey and Michael Lowry) on 30 April 1998.
On 6 May 1998, in order to allay public concerns, and having taken legal advice, I made public the list of the files which have not yet been located. This listing gave the details of 130 files which have not yet been located and of 12 incomplete files. I also forwarded a copy of this list to the three main Opposition spokesmen on finance.
No further files have been located since this list was published on 6 May and the list remains valid.
I have advised the tribunal that the files that have been located have been secured and remain available for inspection at its convenience and that officials of the Department of Finance remain at the disposal of the tribunal to assist it further.
During 1997 my Department had begun the development of a new computerised file classification system and file tracking system, the purpose of which is to track the movements of files and identify their whereabouts at any given time. Work on this system is now well advanced and it is expected to be fully operational over the coming months.
