PAC 'was advised to limit Project Eagle report', Sean Fleming says
Senior Oireachtas officials "advised" the Dáil's public accounts committee to limit its damning Project Eagle report amid clear legal threats from both Finance Minister Michael Noonan and NAMA, PAC chair and Fianna Fáil TD Sean Fleming has said.
Deputy Fleming revealed the situation during a heated PAC exchange which saw committee members turn on each other and warn the vital group is at risk of being politicised.
Just hours after Mr Fleming told the Dáil on Wednesday night that Finance Minister Michael Noonan threatened to injunct the PAC due to its report's findings against him, the PAC chair said he was not the only person who pressured the committee.
Under privilege, he said the chair of NAMA also threatened to sue, that another NAMA official said the State property group had a "dossier" of previous negative comments Mr Fleming made stretching back years, and that unnamed senior Oireachtas officials noted a rarely used legal rule that could have prevented the Project Eagle report from being published.
"In my conversation with the chairman of Nama [Frank Daly] he did mention to me the issue of legal advice being considered," Mr Fleming said.
"I was told Nama had a dossier prepared of all my previous comments on the C&AG over several period of years.
"Senior people in this House also made it very clear to me that if they weren't happy with the wording of our report they would prevent it from being issued and would take it to the committee on procedure and privileges," he said, later clarifying this referred to a rarely used standing order where a report's legal standing is questioned.
The comments led to a furious reaction from PAC members, with unaligned Independent TD Catherine Connolly saying the NAMA dossier threat is "truly shocking" and Fianna Fáil TD Marc Mac Sharry saying it amounted to NAMA saying "we've got the goods on you".
The pressurecame to light during a linked discussion on Mr Fleming's Wednesday night Dáil revelation Finance Minister Michael Noonan threatened to sue the PAC over the report.
While the Department of Finance claimed the threat was during a "friendly" conversation, Mr Fleming repeated the view yesterday, saying: "The conversation ended with Minister Noonan saying you know I can injunct you."
While criticising Mr Fleming for not revealing the situation until now, Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald and David Cullinane, Labour's Alan Kelly, Ms Connolly and Mr Mac Sharry hit out at the "disgusting" scenario and demanded Mr Noonan apologise.
However, Fine Gael TD Josepha Madigan instead described Mr Fleming's Dáil remarks as "opportunistic" and stressed the claim is "alleged" and based on "political manoeuvres" within the PAC, provoking an angry response from other members.
"Political manouvres? That is outrageous. At no point did political come into this," said Ms Connolly, with Mr Cullinane saying Fine Gael is attempting to undermine the PAC from within and Mr Mac Sharry adding if anyone believes the committee has been politicised they should "resign".
Meanwhile, at a separate event Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe criticised the "politicised" nature of the PAC and backed his cabinet colleague Mr Noonan.
Asked if Mr Noonan should step down due to his alleged legal threat against the PAC, Mr Donohoe told the Irish Examiner the Finance Minister is "entirely entitled to make his observations known".
He added that in his view Government is not politicising the PAC or trying to undermine its work as "I think the PAC became politicised a long time ago" by other elements within the Dáil.
