Gormley gets third report on docklands authority

ENVIRONMENT Minister John Gormley has confirmed he has received a third report into the dealings of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority.

This covered the former Irish Glass Bottle site, and he has asked consultants Farrell Grant Sparks to review it and report back to him.

He also said Fianna Fáil ministers were not blocking his publication of two other reports into the DDDA, as has been claimed by departed Green Party senator Déirdre de Búrca, because they had not seen them. He said he was the only minister to have seen the reports into corporate governance.

The newly delivered report looked into the authority’s involvement in the disastrous Becbay consortium, which owns the former Irish Glass Bottle site.

He denied Fine Gael deputy Phil Hogan’s suggestion the board of the DDDA had not been investigated for conflict of interests with Anglo Irish Bank.

In an angry exchange, Mr Gormley challenged Mr Hogan to name those he felt were compromised.

Afterwards, Mr Hogan released a statement which said a broader inquiry in necessary. “The minister has got the Brennan Report on his desk for over 20 days, but he refuses to release it, using the continuing excuse that he will do so in a number of weeks after the Attorney General looks at it.”