Report on Cullen's contract deals leaked to media, claim Labour

An eagerly-awaited report into how Minister for Transport Martin Cullen awarded lucrative PR contracts was leaked to the media before presented to the Dáil, it was claimed today.

Retired Revenue chief Dermot Quigley has already presented his findings on his month-long inquiry to the Taoiseach who will be quizzed on the matter in the Dáil this afternoon.

But Labour Party boss Pat Rabbitte said Opposition leaders haven’t seen the report yet despite newspaper leaks claiming it will clear Mr Cullen of any wrongdoing.

Mr Rabbitte said: “There does seem to have been a campaign orchestrated through the media to rehabilitate the career of Martin Cullen. I was expecting to see a copy of the report this week but it hasn’t happened yet.”

The controversial contracts worth over €300,000 were awarded to Ms Leech - who is from Mr Cullen’s home town – while he was environment minister.

Weekend newspaper leaks claimed the report calls for stricter procedures on the awarding of public contracts but doesn’t criticise Mr Cullen’s actions.

Ethics watchdog, Standards in Public Office is also carrying out its own probe on the matter.