All members of the cabinet have assured the Taoiseach that they made no representations to NIB or any other financial institution on behalf of the Fianna Fail backbencher, John Ellis. The assurances followed opposition demands that Mr. Ahern should check with his ministers about a Fine Gael claim that a senior Fianna Fáil figure, in addition to Albert Reynolds, had intervened with the bank on Mr Ellis' behalf.
As a result of the interventions in late 1989, NIB cancelled more than £260,000 in debts owed by the Leitrim deputy. A government spokesman said that, at Mr. Ahern's request, each minister had been telephoned by the Chief Whip, Seamus Brennan, and asked if they had intervened in the matter. The answer, said the spokesman, had been a universal no.
The Taoiseach had told the House that a search by NIB of its records had so far found no evidence of ministerial contact in the matter. Mr. Ahern said that anyone who had any information relating to the Ellis affair should give it to the Moriarty Tribunal. He also challenged the silent Fine Gael benches to name the Fianna Fáil figure they claimed had contacted the bank.
Fine Gael deputy, Michael Noonan, said tonight that he would press the Taoiseach in the Dáil next week for a clear statement as to whether or not the John Ellis matter is to be investigated by the Moriarty Tribunal and, if not, what alternative means of inquiry he proposes. He said that the allegations that political representations to NIB were of a threatening nature must be investigated. He also said that there is prima facie evidence that the Fianna Fail/PD Government of 1989 was sustained in office for a further two years as a result of the direct intervention of the Minister for Finance.
