Full response to BBC story published 3 November 2023
The below is the full response given to the BBC ahead of the story published this morning.
A spokesperson from CMAL said:
“The investigation carried out by Barry Smith KC was independent of CMAL. We have not seen any of the witness statements nor any of the documentation provided by other parties, and therefore cannot comment on his report. We can confirm that all relevant information in our possession was provided to Barry Smith KC.
“We have been advised that all interviewees, including George McGregor (previous employee of CMAL) and Mark Daly of the BBC, were given the opportunity to provide any relevant evidence to the investigation which would then have been considered by Barry Smith KC. If further documentation is available, we encourage the individual concerned to share this with Barry Smith KC, as should have been done during the investigation.
“We would also point out that George McGregor was not employed by CMAL at the time of the PQQ, but was CMAL’s Procurement Manager throughout the ITT stage of the tender process and attended the meeting with FMEL referred to in the KC report. As Procurement Manager, it was his responsibility to ensure that CMAL complied with procurement law. At no time did he raise any concerns about the procurement process with the CMAL Board.”
A follow up statement was provided in answer to further questions posed:
“We are not aware of any concerns raised by George McGregor to any member of the CMAL team in relation to the procurement process of 801 and 802. We can confirm that all relevant information in our possession was provided to Barry Smith KC during his investigation.
“Further, we are not aware of the content of any of the statements given to Barry Smith KC during the investigation. We therefore cannot comment on whether George McGregor raised concerns with him around any element of the procurement of 801 & 802.”