Bertie’s back, berated and besieged

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern was at the centre of a political storm yesterday as his and the Government’s credibility came under sustained attack over a stream of political controversies.

On the resumption of the Dáil, Mr Ahern was rounded on by the opposition over his Government’s handling of the compensation deal for child abuse victims and for his lack of action on learning in June that Fianna Fáil TD Michael Collins was a tax defaulter.

The Dáil’s return coincided with the publication of the annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General John Purcell, which was particularly scathing of the €128 million indemnity deal struck with the religious orders. The C&AG estimated the final cost of the Redress Board could be around €1 billion.

However, the Taoiseach signalled a major disagreement with the C&AG by directly contradicting his findings.

In an unprecedented dismissal of the estimate of the senior watchdog on State spending, the Taoiseach challenged the figure of the eventual payout.

“Our view is still that it will not be anything like the eminent C&AG has said. We still believe it will be far smaller than that,” Mr Ahern told the Dáil.

The former Minister for Education Michael Woods, himself the subject of criticism in the report, also fomented the disagreement by dismissing the C&AG’s figure as a “guesstimate”.

Mr Purcell’s investigation estimated that the eventual cost of the indemnity deal could be between €869 million and €1.04bn. He also raised concerns about why no records had been kept of key meetings between Mr Woods, the department’s secretary general John Dennehy and representatives of the religious orders. It emerged that no legal advisers for the department were present at the meetings.

Mr Purcell also highlighted concerns voiced by then Attorney General Michael McDowell just before the indemnity deal was struck. He had said the contribution from the religious orders might not be significant enough and that the deal could not be revisited once it had been signed.

During a day of terse confrontation, Mr Ahern was also forced to explain why he had taken no action for three months after learning that FF backbencher Michael Collins was a tax defaulter.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny condemned his lack of action after he was informed of Mr Collins’ tax problems several months ago.

Quoting from a 1998 statement by Mr Ahern that a political party must react to knowledge when it becomes available, the Fine Gael leader said the Taoiseach had done nothing and that questions now arose about his leadership.

“This is appalling leadership and disgusting government,” he said.

Mr Ahern responded that Fianna Fáil did not tolerate tax evasion and that he had set up the bodies that ensure ethical compliance by elected representatives.

He said it was not his role to interfere with the due process and pointed out that, in any instance, details of Mr Collins’s tax default would be published shortly. In a heated exchange with Mr Ahern, Labour leader, Pat Rabbitte accused him of misleading the Dáil and said the C&AG report represented a serious indictment of a “scandalously, reckless, negligent, profligate deal”.

He also singled out the Progressive Democrats, and claimed that Mr McDowell was electioneering “up lampposts when this major deal was being concluded”.

Responding to Mr Ahern’s reaction to the report, he said: “It’s disgraceful for the Taoiseach and his office to dismiss the findings of the C&AG.”

Mr Ahern stood over the deal, saying it would have been impossible to compensate victims otherwise.

“We would not have been able to deal with this if we did not set up the Redress Board and properly set up a compensation scheme,” he said.

The child abuse controversy will stay on the agenda this week.

It is due to be debated in the Dáil again today and Mr Purcell will appraise the Dáil’s powerful Public Accounts Committee on his findings tomorrow.