Pressure on Flannery to appear before PAC

Labour has stepped-up pressure on senior Fine Gael adviser Frank Flannery to tell all to the Public Accounts Committee after his role trying to influence Government policy drew opposition fire.

Social Protection Minister Joan Burton said it was time for the Rehab charity to engage in full “disclosure” after a series of damaging revelations.

The controversy took a new twist after it was reported that Mr Flannery, a Rehab director, had been paid by the charity to lobby government departments on its behalf in 2011 and 2012.

Ms Burton said a new culture of accountability needed to be enforced across the charity sector.

“I think he should go in and answer any questions that PAC have,” she said.

“The Rehab board is meeting, I think they have to decide on a policy of disclosure and public accountability in relation to the significant amounts of public money that they have received.

“With the new charities regulator being appointed at the end of this month the whole charities sector in terms of accountability needs to be examined so that people know where the money goes to because the families that use the service depend upon it,” Ms Burton told RTÉ.

Fianna Fáil’s finance spokesperson Michael McGrath said the issue raised serious questions about lobbying. “Of course he should go in and answer any questions that PAC has because at the end of the day he is a member of the board at Rehab.

“We know that he is very influential in government circles, his connections to Fine Gael are well established and long standing and the fact that some contracts have now emerged in terms of consultancy and lobbying work, whereby he was paid by Rehab in respect of his influence over certain government policy — I think questions do need to be answered, and I think he would be doing a great disservice if he continues to ignore the calls from within his own party to go in and answer questions.

PAC chairperson John McGuinness’s calls for Mr Flannery to appear before the committee have been backed by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste.

European Affairs Minister Pascal Donohoe also said “absolute transparency” was needed on the issue.