TD accuses O’Brien of ‘intimidation’
The Independent Kildare North TD insisted she would not be cowed by the businessman as she again demanded a much more sweeping investigation into deals involving IBRC, the bank created out of the wreckage of Anglo.
Ms Murphy claimed that some of the accusations made against her may be defamatory, but she feels she must focus on IBRC at the moment, and then decide whether any legal action is necessary.
The TD said she feels Mr O’Brien has tried to “bully and intimidate” her since she made allegations about his financial dealings with IBRC in the Dáil last week.
“I am a representative of the people, and if I am being bullied for doing my job, by extension the people I represent are being bullied, and I do not think they will take too kindly to that.
“I think some of the things being said about me are well over the top and defamatory.
“It seems that there’s an assumption that there is only one person that can have their reputation damaged here. That is not the case, because they are trying to damage my reputation.
“But I can’t get over-sensitive at the moment, it has to be parked as I focus on the key issue of IBRC,” Ms Murphy said.
The campaigning TD won praise from across the political spectrum in April for her dogged efforts to prise freedom of information details out of the Department of Finance regarding the sale of the firm Siteserv, overseen by IBRC at a loss to the taxpayer of €105m.
“I am not the only one who had concerns about the Siteserv deal. The FoI documents show that senior civil servants had deep concerns about what was going on. What we need now is a credible inquiry into that deal and the other ones undertaken by IBRC,” the TD said.
A spokesperson for Mr O’Brien hit back, saying: “Catherine Murphy has made false and misleading statements about Denis O’Brien in the Dáil and used Dáil privilege in a shameless way. Catherine Murphy has never stated that she stands over in unequivocal terms the information she put before the Dáil last week.”
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin also accused Mr O’Brien of trying to “bully” Ms Murphy and “denigrate” the Dáil.
A spokesperson for the billionaire claimed that documents obtained by Ms Murphy were “stolen and altered” by persons unknown.
The independent deputy dismissed the allegations, insisting that her sources acted in good faith and were reliable.
After it took more than a year for the Department of Finance to reveal the FoI information regarding Siteserv, Michael Noonan denied the Government had been trying to hide the facts, but was widely condemned from opposition benches when he stated the delay was Ms Murphy’s fault because she had not been asking the right questions.
The furore forced the Government to announce a review of the deal, and other IBRC deals which lost the taxpayer more than €10m. Ms Murphy said this was not good enough as the probe would be carried out by Anglo liquidators KPMG, and as the firm had acted in the Siteserv deal, it was open to the perception of a potential conflict of interest.
Ministers appointed a retired judge to watch for conflicts of interest, but opposition figures said a different investigation was needed.
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