The Minister for Transport, Mr Cullen, has been granted a reprieve after the State's ethics body decided not to launch a full inquiry into the granting of €300,000 worth of public relations contracts, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent.
The Standards in Public Office Commission said it had finished its preliminary inquiry into the Office of Public Works and Department of the Environment contracts held by Mr Cullen's political associate, Waterford-based PR consultant, Ms Monica Leech.
The standards commission said it had investigated whether a full inquiry could be opened under the Ethics in Public Office and the Standards in Public Office Acts.
"The evidence before the standards commission did not establish a prima facie case which would have warranted an investigation within the terms of the legislation in question," it said.
The ruling guarantees Mr Cullen's place in the Cabinet - he would have faced strong demands to stand aside if a full inquiry had been ordered.
Clearly delighted, the Minister said he noted the commission's ruling: "I note this evening's announcement that the Standards in Public Office Commission, having considered the matter, has found that there are no grounds for an investigation. Taken together with the Quigley inquiry, all matters relating to this issue have been comprehensively examined by independent persons.
"I look forward to continuing to work hard in my role as Minister for Transport and to delivering on the many challenging and exciting policy initiatives under my responsibility," he said in a brief statement.
A spokesman for the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said the Government noted the statement and said the report "speaks for itself".
The commission had investigated whether Mr Cullen had a case to answer under Section 12 of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995, which demands that Ministers make declaration to the Taoiseach and the chairman of the standards commission if a person connected to them could materially benefit from any of their actions. In addition, it examined whether he should face an inquiry under Section 4 of the Standards in Public Office Act, 2001, as to whether his actions "were inconsistent with proper performance".
Last month, an investigation into the Leech contract carried out by the former chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, Mr Dermot Quigley, found in favour of Mr Cullen.
The Waterford PR consultant earned €265,806 in fees, plus €25,000 in expenses from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government between July 2002 and November 2004.
Ms Leech had earlier earned €42,903 from the Office of Public Works for handling the public relations surrounding a number of developments in Waterford City run by the State body.
Mr Quigley found Mr Cullen had left himself open to "a perception of impropriety" charge because of the manner in which OPW and Environment had awarded the Leech contracts and subsequently monitored them.
Noting the commission's decision, Fine Gael TD, Mr Fergus O'Dowd said the Quigley report had raised "serious issues" that had already forced the Taoiseach to order new rules to be put in place.
Accepting the ruling, the Labour Party said the commission was "the body charged with investigating these matters and we must accept its ruling.
"In any country, however, the Minister would have been long gone out of office because of his record of incompetence."