Speaking in Dublin today Public Accounts Committee member and Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Reform Mary Lou McDonald TD said following the Comptroller and Auditor General's report into the Dublin Docklands Development Authority there can be no-where to hide for those responsible for lumbering the public purse with yet more debt.

Deputy McDonald said: "The winding down of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) over the next eighteen months is good news. It is of concern that Dublin City Council said last week it was not aware of the Government’s plans for the Council to take over the Authority’s powers. Environment Minister Phil Hogan must work closely with the City Manager and the Council to ensure the Authority’s transition is a smooth one and community considerations are prioritised.

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"Of course the DDDA’s failure to instil the most basic rules of corporate governance is not news. Controversy surrounded the purchase of the Irish Glass Bottle site in 2007 even before the Authority bought it for a staggering €431 million. For many the DDDA epitomises the worst excesses of the murky relationship between Fianna Fáil, property developers and Anglo Irish Bank. Yet again the public purse will be left to pick up the tab.

"The Public Accounts Committee will consider the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report into the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. Hearings must take place and witnesses must be compelled to attend. Former board members, the Minister who appointed them and senior civil servants who sat on the DDDA board must be brought before the Committee to explain their actions.

"It is the people who will be left to foot the bill for the DDDA debacle. Those responsible must be held to account."

(CD/GK)