Vol. 477 No. 1
94 Mr. O'Malley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason a person (details supplied) authenticated the signature of a person (details supplied) to a Bureau Veritas certificate relating to the alleged importation of Irish beef into Iraq when in fact the certificate was signed by a person (details supplied). [8628/97]
While the Deputy has not supplied a copy of the document to which he refers, I assume it is one of a batch of documents circulated at a recent meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts which was authenticated by the Embassy, Baghdad on 5 March 1990.
The then Ambassador in Baghdad has confirmed that he autenticated the signature of the Bureau Veritas Commercial Manager, Mr. J. Lopuszynski, whose signature appears on all the documents in the batch in question, and that this person's signature was known to him and would have been on record at the Embassy. The fact that one certificate was signed per pro T. Gurney by C. Peyron was overlooked by the Ambassador and possibly by Mr. Lopuszynski. This probably because it was the only one of over 20 certificates presented for authentication on that occasion not to bear T. Gurney's signature. The only signature requiring authentication and the only signature actually authenticated by the Ambassador was that of Mr. Lopuszynski. I understand that the Department of Agriculture accepts that the certificate was genuine. Furthermore, I understand also that no fine was imposed by the European Commission on foot of any certificate in the batch which was authenticated by the Embassy on 5 March 1990.
I should emphasise that the sole function of Irish diplomatic and consular officers in authenticating foreign documents abroad is to certify the authenticity of the signature or seal on the document, not the genuineness, legality, or credibility of the documents or their contents.
