The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, told the Dail three months ago she hoped for an alteration to the EU aircraft noise directive which the businessman Mr Ulick McEvaddy claimed would cost his aviation company £26.8 million if implemented.
Ms O'Rourke told the Fine Gael spokesman on public enterprise, Mr Ivan Yates, on May 19th that in her opinion the directive would be changed.
"It will be altered. We hope it will be as that is what they [the US and the EU] will be talking about".
Her remarks on the Dail record contrast with statements on Tuesday by a spokeswoman for Ms O'Rourke that the Government had neither "championed nor opposed" the directive.
The directive, which curtails aircraft engine noise, was adopted at the EU Industry Council on April 29th, but is not due to come into operation until next April.
The Minister told the Dail she asked her office to tell Mr Ulick McEvaddy she was going to an informal meeting of EU transport ministers to speak about the noise directive, six days before it was adopted.
"I was going for that one reason, to speak to my colleagues about the hushkits [a device to reduce the noise level on a plane]".
"I had not intended to go to the informal meeting because it did not suit. At informal meetings no real business is done, but I felt business could be done so I went to Germany.
"I heard Mr McEvaddy on the radio that morning. I contacted my office to tell him I was going for that one reason, to speak to my colleagues about hushkits.
"He had both before and after been into the Department speaking to John Lumsden [senior Department official] about it. I think I spoke to all my colleagues about the matter."
A spokesman for the Minister said last night that when Ms O'Rourke told the Dail she hoped the directive would be altered what she meant was that there would be progress between now and April 2000 on talks between the EU and the US on the issue.
The US is vehemently opposed to the regulation, saying it would eliminate certain US aircraft from flying in European airspace.
The spokesman said the position was still that Ireland neither "championed nor opposed" the directive. He said the EU transport ministers adopted a "common" position on the directive in October 1998. The EU in February approved this common position and the directive was formally adopted in April.
The spokesman said the reason the Minister arranged for her off ice to ring Mr McEvaddy on April 23rd to tell him she was attending the meeting was that he had been on Morning Ireland claiming jobs would be lost because of the directive and the Minister was doing nothing about it.
Mr Yates has confirmed that he asked Dail questions on the EU aircraft directive on behalf of Mr McEvaddy.