Seven ministers give details on Dail date

The Labour Party has only procured half of the Departmental records for February 1st, 1989, the day on which London-based property…

The Labour Party has only procured half of the Departmental records for February 1st, 1989, the day on which London-based property developer Mr Tom Gilmartin claims he met a number of Fianna Fail ministers.

The party's Dublin North West TD, Ms Roisin Shortall, submitted queries to 15 ministers to see if they could establish what their predecessors were doing on February 1st a decade ago. Seven replies gave details of meetings, Dail business and functions attended by the then ministers.

None of the records show evidence of a meeting in Leinster House at 5.30 p.m., the time at which Mr Gilmartin claims he spoke to the then Taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey, in the presence of a number of ministers, including Mr Ahern, Mr Ray Burke and the EU Commissioner, Mr Padraig Flynn, to whom Mr Gilmartin claims he gave £50,000.

However, there are no diary records to reveal the whereabouts of eight ministers at the time. No records have been found in the Taoiseach's Department for February 1st, 1989, when Mr Haughey held the office.

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However, entries have been recorded in the case of the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, who was then minister for labour, and back up his earlier claim that he was presenting certificates in Glasnevin, Dublin, at the time Mr Gilmartin says he was in his company in Leinster House.

The diary of Mr Burke, then minister for industry and commerce, records a meeting with the then Sen Eoin Ryan at 5 p.m. and a meeting with Mr Gerry O'Hanlon and the minister of state, Mr Terry Leyden, at 6 p.m.

Ms Shortall sought information on dates from the 1989 diaries of Mr Flynn, then minister for the environment and local government. Leinster House records show Mr Gilmartin was "signed in" five times in 1989 and had four meetings with Mr Flynn. However, Mr Flynn's Departmental records reveal only one encounter on May 10th.