Ahern denies trying to avoid questions on Flood

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern denied yesterday that he was trying to dodge questions on the Flood Tribunal report and Ray Burke's appointment as a minister.

The Taoiseach said he will answer questions raised during the Dáil debate on the planning corruption report this week. However, he rejected opposition calls for him to answer questions directly, because the debate was about the report rather than the appointment of Ray Burke to the cabinet in 1997: "I'm not part of the Flood Report. I'm hardly mentioned in the Flood Report, so why should I be answering questions about the report?"

Tánaiste Mary Harney said the Government is not refusing to have a full debate on Justice Flood's interim report. The Taoiseach will fully answer all questions on the issue and all information would be put into the public domain, Ms Harney said. The people of Ireland were concerned that important questions would be answered, and the technical form the debate would take was not of interest, she said.