Cullen will face a second inquiry into Leech contract, says Ahern
The Standards in Public Offices Commission (SPOC) is already conducting an investigation into the ethics of the deal.
But Mr Ahern said this second inquiry would be headed by a senior civil servant and he hoped it would be completed within a month after the Dáil resumes in January.
“The contracts are there, the Cabinet rules are there and the procedures are there for procurement and so hopefully it should not take too long,” he added.
While the Government would not confirm last night who will head the inquiry, one of the most likely candidates is former Cabinet secretary Frank Murray.
“We don’t want to create any problems for the Standards in Public Office but I think, that as on previous occasions they have to go into detail, and it will take some time,” Mr Ahern told Today FM.
Labour Party leader Pat Rabitte had called for a “speedy” investigation into this controversy in a letter to the Taoiseach before the weekend.
Mr Ahern said he hoped this second inquiry would not take too much time because it just involves the minister, the Environment Department secretary general and papers in both that department and the Office of Public Works. There were also media claims yesterday that Mr Cullen had overruled the reservations of the Environment Department’s top civil servant on the nature of the €1,200 a-day-contract awarded to Ms Leech.
This could not be confirmed last night, with a spokesperson for Mr Cullen saying: “It would be inappropriate to comment when an independent mechanism will be set up to investigate the matter.”
He added that the minister welcomed the setting up of a second inquiry. “Mr Cullen believes this is the appropriate action and he hopes it can be established and report back as quickly as is feasible.”
Ms Leech, the Waterford-based PR consultant, has earned over €300,000 in fees from the Department of the Environment since she was appointed in 2002, according to information supplied to Fine Gael in the Dáil.
Meanwhile, gardaí could not confirm last night if the man identified by a Sunday newspaper was the person who made the lewd hoax call to RTÉ’s Liveline programme about Mr Cullen last week.
