Ahern attacked for ‘appalling leadership’

FINE GAEL yesterday accused the Taoiseach of “appalling leadership” and “disgusting government” in his handling of the Michael Collins tax evasion affair.

However, Mr Ahern insisted there was no secrecy in the way he dealt with the information that the Limerick West TD had a bogus off-shore account and outstanding tax liabilities.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said the Taoiseach had failed to live up to the standards he himself had set down about errant Dáil members, and said the compliant taxpayers of the country deserved answers.

“You were given the knowledge and you failed to act. Did you ask Deputy Collins to go to the proper authorities? No. Did you ask Fianna Fáil to investigate it? No. This is not about Deputy Collins. It is about Taoiseach Ahern and his leadership,” he said.

Mr Ahern said the deputy had intended to make a statement on the issue once his name became public.

“He approached me in the second half of June. He informed me that he had personally sorted out the tax issue and that his name would be published shortly in revenue reports and that when that was published he would make a public statement and make himself available to deal with it,” said Mr Ahern.

Mr Collins thought this would happen soon afterwards but it was several months before Revenue published the list of defaulters containing his name.

Mr Ahern said they both understood that the revelation would create difficulty for Mr Collins but he was prepared to deal with whatever action the Fianna Fáil party or the Standards in Public Office Commission would take and it was not for him to preempt them.

“When a member in confidence comes to tell me that his name is in the revenue domain, it is not for me to ring Revenue, who will not give me the details, and it is not for me to put his name in the public domain,” he said.

Mr Kenny accused Mr Ahern of fuelling the cynicism already prevalent in a public “mired in tribunal after tribunal”.

He said: “This is appalling leadership and it’s disgusting government and it does you no justice at all as leader of your party to be in here and admitting you did nothing,” he said. “You have failed your own standards and let down hundreds of thousands of people out there who pay their way day in and day out.”