I am grateful to Deputy Allen for raising this matter on the Adjournment and I am happy to take this opportunity to come into the House and clarify it. I accept the Deputy's point that it would not be possible not to deal with it, although it is a constituency matter for which I am not answerable in this House. No Taoiseach is answerable in the House for a constituency representation but I do so because there is a break coming up and I appreciate Deputy Allen's point.
As Deputies are aware, today's edition of the Irish Independentcarried a front page story that suggests I interfered in the planning process. In a statement issued this morning I categorically refuted this disingenuous charge. After reading the comments made here this morning in the House, I am pleased to have this opportunity to deal with the matter in the Chamber. I am saddened to see that the Opposition sought to make a political football out of what was a compassionate gesture on behalf of a constituent with a close family member suffering from cancer.
In the interests of accuracy, and as requested by Deputy Allen, I want to set out for Members the factual position as to how this issue was dealt with by my constituency office and on the basis of the information made available to it at the time. On 10 November 2003, Mr. Kevin Murray, who is resident in my constituency, attended a clinic in my office in Drumcondra. As I was otherwise engaged on Government business, the clinic was taken by my constituency colleague, Senator Brady. Mr. Murray informed Senator Brady about the operation of a family quarry at Scrine, Rahara, County Roscommon and that this was the subject of an unauthorised development case taken by Roscommon County Council.
At the clinic, Mr. Murray also stated that his brother was at that time attending St. Luke's Hospital receiving chemotherapy treatment for cancer. He made the point that the case with Roscommon County Council was causing much stress for his brother at a time when he was receiving critical and debilitating medical treatment. Mr. Murray asked if there was any possibility that, on humanitarian grounds, the case could be put on hold until his brother's treatment had finished.
On 12 November, two days after Mr. Murray met Senator Brady at the constituency clinic, a letter was issued from my constituency office stating that I would endeavour to assist in this matter. On that same day, 12 November, another letter was issued to Ms Marion O'Grady, the planning enforcement officer of Roscommon County Council. The relevant section of this letter concerning Mr. Murray's brother states, "brother, Brian, is in St Luke's Hospital at present receiving Chemotherapy treatment for cancer and I would be grateful if you could arrange for this case to be put on hold until Brian's treatment is complete." In concluding this letter, Ms O'Grady was asked if she could look on this request sympathetically.
I want to unequivocally state that the only motivation in making representation on this matter was from a compassionate perspective. It is a blatant distortion of the truth to suggest that there was any attempt to interfere in the planning process. At no time did I seek to influence the council's decision regarding the unauthorised development case. My involvement related solely to a request that the matter would be put on hold until Mr. Brian Murray had completed his medical treatment. This was done on humanitarian grounds. As I made clear in a reply to one of Deputy Allen's questions, the reason I got involved in this is because his brother lives quite near me in Drumcondra.
It is important to also put this letter in context in terms of the information Mr. Murray gave to my constituency office. The quarry had been in operation since 1939. In 2002, Roscommon County Council conducted an investigation into its planning status. The result of the investigation was to find that there was no contravention of the planning code. An official in the planning enforcement section of the county council had written to Mr. Brian Murray on 23 August 2002 – he gave us a copy of the letter – in the following terms:
I wish to inform you that following investigation by the Planning Authority, it was found that the above operation was a small scale development and that Planning Permission exists in respect of same by virtue of pre-1963 usage. The Planning Authority will not, therefore, be taking any further action in this case.
Between August 2002 and October 2003, the view of the planning authority obviously changed. I understand that the view of the county council is that the nature of the activities on the quarry had changed and that planning permission was therefore now required. Neither I nor my constituency office staff was in a position to offer a view on compliance with the planning Acts, as the issue of "intensification of use" raises complex issues of law and fact, as the quarry industry has made clear today. What was clear was that there was a dispute and that there were two sides to the story.
The county council had issued a planning enforcement notice on 15 October 2003. This meant that Mr. Brian Murray had 28 days from that date to comply with the notice or else he would face criminal charges. Senator Brady was informed that because Mr. Brian Murray was receiving chemotherapy treatment in St. Luke's hospital in Dublin, he was not in a position to take matters in hand at the quarry and could not make his case effectively to the county council. The deadline for compliance with the notice was approaching and Mr. Brian Murray was extremely distressed by the whole situation.
For these reasons, Senator Brady thought it reasonable that a letter be sent in my name. It is important to make clear what the letter did not state. It did not state that the activities at the quarry were in compliance with the planning code, it did not seek to influence the county council's interpretation of the planning laws and it did not ask that legal proceedings should not be taken. In effect, all the letter asked for was that proceedings would be put on hold until Mr Brian Murray was well enough to deal with the problem, one way or another, particularly given that he had received a letter 14 months earlier indicating that he had no difficulty and that he had planning permission.
Earlier today I took the opportunity to speak to my constituency colleague, Senator Brady, who manages the Fianna Fáil constituency office in Dublin Central. Senator Brady has confirmed that I did not personally sign this letter. However, I take full responsibility as a public representative for the correspondence issued in my name.
I particularly want to take issue with the suggestion this morning that officials in my Department conducted an incompetent search of records. The facts are that on 1 December 2003, a journalist from the Irish Independent, Brian McDonald, contacted the Government Press Office by telephone with the following questions, and I quote:
Did the Taoiseach or anyone on his behalf make representations or otherwise communicate with a planning authority in respect of a planning enforcement notice or similar notice in recent weeks. If so, why was this done? What was the nature of the communication? Will the Taoiseach make available to the journalist a copy of such communication? Will he comment on the matter?
This query was e-mailed to staff in the my private office and my constituency office. Members of my staff asked if there was any more information, to which the press office stated that the journalist said, it "relates to a planning matter in the west of Ireland". An initial trawl of the records based on this scant information was carried out but nothing was found.
The Government press officer contacted the journalist on 3 December to relay this information and stated that she would continue checking but if more information could be made available it would help in the search. On 5 December, the Government press officer again contacted the journalist to ask if any further information was available, to which the journalist said he had nothing more. The Government press officer said that we had checked all the relevant sections and based on the information provided at the time it appeared that the Taoiseach had not made any such representations. The Government press officer asked the journalist to come back to her, if he could be more specific.
On 17 December, the journalist contacted the Government Press Office again. This time he said he had more information and was able to quote a reference number to the correspondence. He then asked two questions, first, why was he told that the Taoiseach did not intervene and, second, does the Department wish to comment? In response to this, I emphasise that up to that point in time in his dealings with the press office, he had not been told at any stage that I did not intervene. It was simply pointed out to him that my office had not been able to locate any reference which matched the inadequate information he provided.
Armed with the specific reference number, the Government Press Office was immediately able to get a copy of the correspondence. The Government press officer telephoned the journalist to respond, first, that the Department ran a check but did not receive enough information initially, so nothing showed up and, second, that the Taoiseach was making a case on compassionate grounds on behalf of a constituent as requested. While Mr. McDonald contacted my office and made an inquiry regarding a representation, this was not specific and did not sound familiar to any of the staff in my office. This is hardly surprising given that my constituency office dealt with more than 600 pieces of correspondence in the week in which the letter was issued to Roscommon County Council.
I utterly reject any imputation that I attempted to interfere in the planning process. I was simply seeking, on compassionate grounds, more time for the close relative of a constituent, who was undergoing very distressing and debilitating cancer treatment, to deal with the matter. As a public representative in this democracy, I contend that it was 100% legitimate for me to raise this matter on behalf of a constituent with the local authority concerned, and that my constituency office dealt with this in a totally appropriate manner.
