Hi °C | Lo °C TAOISEACH Enda Kenny has rejected a call to reopen the Moriarty Tribunal's investigation into payments by Independent TD Michael Lowry.
It came after the emergence of a taped phone conversation, where Mr Lowry spoke about paying either stg£200,00or stg£250,000 to Northern Ireland-based land agent Kevin Phelan.
In the Dail, Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin said the details in the conversation were "unhealthy and somewhat disturbing" and had cast doubt over the veracity of the evidence given to the Moriarty Tribunal.
He called on Mr Kenny to ask the Moriarty Tribunal to re-examine the issues.
But Mr Kenny said there was no further function for the Dail in relation to the Moriarty Tribunal, which published its final report two years ago.
"I have no intention of re-opening the Moriarty Tribunal or any other tribunal," he said.
Since the emergence last weekend of the taped phone call between Mr Lowry and Mr Phelan in 2004, questions have arisen about whether there is a "contradiction" with evidence Mr Lowry supplied to the Moriarty Tribunal. In the Moriarty Tribunal report, Mr Lowry said he paid Mr Phelan more than stg£60,000 through a company called Vineacre to ensure he had had no future claim to a land project in Wigan he was involved in.
But in the taped phone conversation with Mr Phelan in 2004, Mr Lowry constantly referred to a sum of either stg£200,00or stg£250,000 which he said he paid to Mr Phelan.
Mr Kenny said that if anyone had further evidence, they should forward it to the appropriate authorities. He went on to criticise the fact that Fianna Fáil had signed a "secret deal" with Mr Lowry to get his support as an Independent TD for the 2007-2011 Government.
