The Taoiseach asked two senior officials in the Department of Finance to brief journalists last night on his role in both the GTech and tax concession controversies.
He had earlier refused to take special notice questions on these matters in the Dail.
In a most unusual development, two assistant secretaries in Finance, who had dealt with the Lottery contract and the benefit-in-kind concession in the 1994 Finance Act, told The Irish Times that there was no departure from normal procedures in either case by Mr Ahern when he was minister for finance. Asked if they had agreed to give the one-to-one briefings to media organisations voluntarily, they both stated that it was "at the request of the Taoiseach".
The Taoiseach and the Tanaiste, meanwhile, had "a longer than usual" pre-Cabinet meeting yesterday, discussing the North, policy matters and recent allegations.
"They both expressed concern at the meeting at the things which were coming out but both determined to press on with the business of government," according to a Government spokesman.
Using departmental files to deal with the allegations against the Taoiseach, the first Finance official said that the National Lottery was awarded a licence in 1987. It negotiated with G-Tech during 1987 to provide the hardware Lotto machines. The original licence ran from October 1st, 1986 to September 30th, 1996. The lottery went live in March, 1988.
Driven by the impending competition from the British Lottery, there was a perception in mid-1992 that new developments in computing power were required to upgrade the National Lottery's products by putting scratch cards on line.
After a public tendering process the National Lottery announced that G-Tech had come out on top, the official continued.
In November 1992 the Lottery put the case to the Department that the minister had the power to extend the licence. In February 1993, after the change of government, the Department recommended to the minister that a revised licence should be issued to the end of March 2000.
"No representations of any kind were made to the Department or, as far as I am aware, to the minister about it. The Department was not involved in the negotiations with G-Tech in any way," the official said.
Dealing with the allegation that a benefit-in-kind relief was introduced by Mr Ahern in the 1994 Finance Act to benefit one individual, the second official charted the course of the tax write-offs granted for restoration and protection of stately homes in 1982. The reliefs were extended in 1983, 1985 and 1987.
The official said the Georgian Society had written to the then minister, Mr Ahern, in 1993 seeking a benefit-in-kind relief for a work of art or scientific collection available for viewing by the public. Mr Ken Rohan, the property developer, wrote to the minister in October 1993, expressing a public interest in the proposal. Bord Failte made representations in January 1994.
"The minister wrote off to the individual saying that the concession was being considered," the official stated. "The question of retrospection came up later.
"There was nothing unusual in the way that this proposal was processed," the official added. A Government spokesman said afterwards that the Department of Finance files showed that the normal process of administration and government was followed to the letter in both of these cases "and the spurious issues raised about the Taoiseach's role in them are without foundation".
