Where does Murphy's Special Adviser fit into DRD scandal?
23 August 2010
Statement by TUV Leader Jim Allister:-
“It is essential if public confidence is to be secured for any investigation into the debacle at DRD over NIW and the official/political meddling therein, that no area is off limits, including just what the Minister knew, or ought to have known, about the inappropriate behaviour of his officials. Scapegoating civil servants is a common trick by Ministers under pressure.
“In this regard the email and communication trail between officials and the Minister’s Special Adviser should be made fully available and thoroughly scrutinised. The Special Adviser, a direct and political appointment by the Minister, is his eyes and ears within the department and is accorded privileged access to senior civil servants and their work. He/she is frequently the conduit by which the Minister is kept informed. What the Special Adviser knows the Minister is deemed to know and what senior civil servants are doing the Special Adviser can access. So what the Special Adviser, as the Minister’s surrogate, knew is very important in establishing whether the actions of senior civil servants were really concealed from the Minister.
“Thus, in addition to any direct involvement by Murphy, what role did his Special Adviser play in the whole sorry NIW saga, right from the time when the Chief Executive of NIW, Mr McKenzie, was threatening resignation, through the rewriting of the IRT report, the sacking of the 4 non-executive directors and their replacement with at least one Sinn Fein acolyte, to the dodgy emails following the PAC hearing. Was he kept in the loop? If so, the Minister was also in the loop!
“Given the failure of the DRD scrutiny committee to be alert to anything when Murphy last briefed them on the NIW saga, little expectation can be invested in them now performing much of a useful and investigative role. While a minority of members on the Public Accounts Committee have shown commendable metal, its control under a Sinn Fein Chair, who has already made up his mind by publicly clearing the Minister, suggests it will not unearth all that needs to be exposed. Hence, I repeat my call for a thorough investigation under The Inquiries Act 2005.
“Recent events have for me underscored the constitutional and political imperative of revamping the Stormont Institutions to permit the operation of an Official Opposition, with the will and the means to really hold government to account. So long as all parties are in the club of government, abuse of power will be rampant and unchecked.”
