I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter. It arises from a report on RTE today that 155 files, which were the subject of a discovery order from the Moriarty Tribunal, have gone missing from the Department of Finance, that the files related to the operation of exchange controls, that the Department refused to answer questions on this matter which were posed by RTE and that the Department failed to inform the Moriarty Tribunal that the files were missing. The Minister for Finance issued a statement this afternoon which confirmed the story but which gave little further information except that 167 files, not 155, are missing. I would have preferred this matter to have been taken by way of a Private Notice Question because I would have had the opportunity to pose supplementary questions. However, I thank the Ceann Comhairle for facilitating me. The statement by the Minister for Finance this afternoon sought to diminish the importance of the missing files by claiming that the bulk of them were from prior to 1970. I do not believe this diminishes the importance of the work of the tribunal.
The Sunday Tribune of 1 March 1998 refers to the discovery order by the Moriarty tribunal covering the years from 1954 to 1992. It points out that when sterling was devalued on Saturday, 18 November 1967, Mr. Haughey, as Minister for Finance, was informed in advance of the devaluation by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Jim Callaghan. The telegram from the Chancellor to Mr. Haughey is dated 17 November 1967. Sterling was devalued by 14 per cent.
The Sunday Tribune story links the order for discovery from the Moriarty tribunal with the intention of the tribunal to investigate whether Mr. Haughey or any of his friends could have benefited from this advance knowledge by buying foreign currency before the devaluation and selling it after the devaluation at a profit of approximately 14 per cent. Any person buying foreign currency in 1967 needed to lodge an application under the existing exchange controls. Copies of the application would be on file either in the Central Bank or in the Department of Finance.
Against this background, it is not sufficient for the Minister for Finance to dismiss today's revelations as merely a matter covering dusty 30 year old files of irrelevant antiquity. If the Sunday Tribune story is correct, the files from 1967 are very relevant to the work of the tribunal.
Can the Minister of State inform us how many of the files, out of the 167 missing files, came from 1967 and, in particular, can he state how many of the missing files date from the fourth quarter of that year? In material I have circulated I have attached a copy of the front page portion of the newspaper article of 1 March. For the benefit of the House there is a two page spread on pages 8 and 9 which goes into greater detail on the matter. In the text of the article, Mr. Haughey forcefully denied any impropriety on his part in respect of the matter.
I hope the Minister of State is in a position to answer some other questions. The answers may be in his briefing material. When was the Minister for Finance informed that a large number of files were missing? Did he inform the Moriarty tribunal of the problem at any stage over the past three months? Why did the Minister for Finance not take advantage of the several opportunities he had in this House when the Moriarty tribunal was debated or was the subject of parliamentary questions to inform the House the files were missing? Are the files simply misplaced or have they been destroyed? Can the Minister of State give an assurance to the House that none of these files has been removed from the Department of Finance by persons known or unknown? Can he assure the House that no attempt is being made by persons known or unknown to obstruct the Moriarty tribunal?
Have the terms of the Archives Act been implemented in respect of the files of long duration? I would have thought that since the implementation of the Archives Act there was an obligation on the Department of Finance to forward material of this kind to the archives office if it was older than 30 years and, if it was of a more recent vintage, to look after the files appropriately to see if they contain information which would be lodged in the archives office.
Is the information which was contained in these files from 1965 when exchange control was transferred from the Department of Finance to the Central Bank? Are copies available in the Central Bank? If RTE had not made this issue public today, had the Minister any intention of informing the Houses of the Oireachtas, or did he intend keeping both the Dáil and the Moriarty tribunal in the dark about the missing files?
Did the Minister inform the Taoiseach and the Cabinet that the files were missing? In this afternoon's statement the Minister said his Department was at the full disposal of the tribunal to assist it in whatever way it can in relation to the files which have been located. How can the Department assist the tribunal in relation to files it cannot find? Has the Minister taken legal advice on the missing files and, if so, will the Minister of State communicate to the House the nature of that legal advice?