Lowry-Hogan fallout - Ministers should heed warnings

In Mar 2011 the Moriarty Report concluded that as a minister, Michael Lowry received a payment of £447,000 from businessman Denis O’Brien and then helped him to win a state mobile phone licence.

According to the findings of the tribunal Mr Lowry had an “insidious and pervasive” influence on the licence competition. He had imparted “substantive information” that helped the businessman’s Esat consortium to win the bid.

Within a week of the publication of this report Phil Hogan, the environment minister, granted Mr Lowry access to department officials and provided him and the representatives of Filmco — which recycles farm waste plastics — with what turned out to be the longest meeting granted to any TD or senator during his first year in office.

A director of the Tipperary firm, which was lobbying for changes to rules on the disposal of farming waste, essentially credited Mr Lowry with arranging the meeting with the minister. Yet within two days of the meeting Mr Hogan assured the Dáil that he would have “no truck for those found to have behaved as described by Mr Justice Moriarty”.

Mr Hogan has betrayed a curious facility for putting his foot in his mouth. In the wake of the Moriarty Tribunal he behaved as if it was politics as usual.

People should be asking serious questions about the current government’s attitude. It is not enough that the answers be clear statements of intent. Mr Hogan was quite clear when he stated that he would have “no truck” with those criticised in the Moriarty Report.

The electorate has a right to expect that members of the Government should speak with one voice, but since then we have had the spectacle of the Taoiseach in close proximity with the same Denis O’Brien at the bell-ringing event at the New York Stock Exchange in Wall St. Now we have had the disclosure of Mr Hogan’s facilitating Mr Lowry just two days before he assured the Dáil that he would have no truck with such people.

“Obviously it would have been better if that meeting hadn’t happened,” Arts Minister Jimmy Deenihan said yesterday. Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton agreed with this assessment and added that cabinet members should be aware of how they interact with people against whom tribunals have made adverse findings.

The Government’s veracity on this whole issue has been brought into serious question. Pronouncements are no longer enough. Ministers must now be seen to act in a positive manner in demonstrating that the findings and recommendations are being heeded and actually implemented.