decim
28-09-2009, 05:32 PM
Monday September 28 2009
JUST as the FAS controversy was threatening to die down, Brian Cowen resurrected the entire affair yesterday.
The flak was still flying as Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore took pot shots over the weekend at the Government and Tanaiste Mary Coughlan.
However, the Taoiseach had managed to distance himself from the binning of a statement backing the FAS board, which was being prepared 10 days ago, before the political pressure on the directors to resign had intensified.
And Cowen stood firmly by Coughlan during a weekend trip to her home county of Donegal to campaign for the Lisbon Treaty.
The strife over Rody Molloy's golden handshake on his way out the door of FAS seemed to be settling down. It wasn't going to be gone from the public memory, but the heat was certainly going out of it.
And then Cowen decided to throw a can of petrol on it, thereby ensuring the FAS affair remains in the public mind in the run-up to the Lisbon Treaty referendum on Friday.
Defending the golden handshake to Molloy, the Taoiseach claimed there was no legal action being threatened.
"I'm not saying there was a threat of legal action specifically . . . an agreement was reached in the interests of the organisation," he said.
"I'm not saying that Mr Molloy threatened legal action. There was a discussion going on, and obviously the director general would reserve his position to see if an agreement could be reached," he added.
Cowen's answers to probing questions on RTE's 'This Week' immediately threw up memories of the testimony of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment secretary general Sean Gorman to the Dail Public Accounts Committee last week.
"The package was a negotiated settlement and the terms were not very dissimilar to what he would have got had we terminated his contract. The threat of the courts was hanging over us. From general experience of such cases, I was aware that when they get to court . . ." he said.
PAC chairman Bernard Allen interrupted Mr Gorman to ask: "How could there have been a threat of court action if the man had voluntarily resigned?"
And Mr Gormley replied: "During the negotiations, it was made clear that a part of the terms on which he was prepared to resign was that he should be treated reasonably. It was also made clear that, if the individual believed that he was not being treated reasonably, he would reserve his right to take court action."
Within the space of four days, the Government's position has shifted substantially.
Originally, they were afraid of legal action being taken so Molloy's package was agreed swiftly to allow FAS to move on and not get bogged down.
Yet the Government did not seek any legal advice on Molloy's prospects if he did go down the legal route.
Yesterday, there was no legal action being threatened and Molloy's package was in accordance with the law. Again, it was in the interest of the organisation and the taxpayer.
The same key questions remain: if there was a legal threat, why did they not seek legal advice and if there wasn't a legal threat, why did they give him a top-up?
The 'No' to Lisbon campaign would be hard pressed to actually come up with a reason to kick the Government if it was trying. Why bother? The Government is doing a perfectly good job on its own.
Today, the Taoiseach will be on the Lisbon hustings in Co Clare and is guaranteed to be asked again about Molloy's pay off. Finance Minister Brian Lenihan will be in Dublin talking about the economic and social arguments for a 'Yes' vote.
Again, he will be asked why the Department of Finance signed off on this deal.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/cowen-adds-fuel-to-the-fire-just-as-burning-issues-were-dying-down-1898086.html
JUST as the FAS controversy was threatening to die down, Brian Cowen resurrected the entire affair yesterday.
The flak was still flying as Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore took pot shots over the weekend at the Government and Tanaiste Mary Coughlan.
However, the Taoiseach had managed to distance himself from the binning of a statement backing the FAS board, which was being prepared 10 days ago, before the political pressure on the directors to resign had intensified.
And Cowen stood firmly by Coughlan during a weekend trip to her home county of Donegal to campaign for the Lisbon Treaty.
The strife over Rody Molloy's golden handshake on his way out the door of FAS seemed to be settling down. It wasn't going to be gone from the public memory, but the heat was certainly going out of it.
And then Cowen decided to throw a can of petrol on it, thereby ensuring the FAS affair remains in the public mind in the run-up to the Lisbon Treaty referendum on Friday.
Defending the golden handshake to Molloy, the Taoiseach claimed there was no legal action being threatened.
"I'm not saying there was a threat of legal action specifically . . . an agreement was reached in the interests of the organisation," he said.
"I'm not saying that Mr Molloy threatened legal action. There was a discussion going on, and obviously the director general would reserve his position to see if an agreement could be reached," he added.
Cowen's answers to probing questions on RTE's 'This Week' immediately threw up memories of the testimony of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment secretary general Sean Gorman to the Dail Public Accounts Committee last week.
"The package was a negotiated settlement and the terms were not very dissimilar to what he would have got had we terminated his contract. The threat of the courts was hanging over us. From general experience of such cases, I was aware that when they get to court . . ." he said.
PAC chairman Bernard Allen interrupted Mr Gorman to ask: "How could there have been a threat of court action if the man had voluntarily resigned?"
And Mr Gormley replied: "During the negotiations, it was made clear that a part of the terms on which he was prepared to resign was that he should be treated reasonably. It was also made clear that, if the individual believed that he was not being treated reasonably, he would reserve his right to take court action."
Within the space of four days, the Government's position has shifted substantially.
Originally, they were afraid of legal action being taken so Molloy's package was agreed swiftly to allow FAS to move on and not get bogged down.
Yet the Government did not seek any legal advice on Molloy's prospects if he did go down the legal route.
Yesterday, there was no legal action being threatened and Molloy's package was in accordance with the law. Again, it was in the interest of the organisation and the taxpayer.
The same key questions remain: if there was a legal threat, why did they not seek legal advice and if there wasn't a legal threat, why did they give him a top-up?
The 'No' to Lisbon campaign would be hard pressed to actually come up with a reason to kick the Government if it was trying. Why bother? The Government is doing a perfectly good job on its own.
Today, the Taoiseach will be on the Lisbon hustings in Co Clare and is guaranteed to be asked again about Molloy's pay off. Finance Minister Brian Lenihan will be in Dublin talking about the economic and social arguments for a 'Yes' vote.
Again, he will be asked why the Department of Finance signed off on this deal.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/cowen-adds-fuel-to-the-fire-just-as-burning-issues-were-dying-down-1898086.html