Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said yesterday he accepted the view of the Moriarty tribunal that the practice he had engaged in of pre-signing blank cheques from the Fianna Fáil party leader's account for Charles Haughey was undesirable.
He said he was happy, however, that the tribunal had accepted his evidence that he had no reason to believe the account was operated otherwise than in an orthodox fashion.
He was making a statement in the Dáil on the report of the Moriarty tribunal into payments to Haughey, which uncovered donations to the former taoiseach worth the equivalent of €45 million in today's values.
"I am also pleased that the tribunal said in their report that it is 'noteworthy' that at my insistence amendments have since been made to the governing of the leader's allowance accounts," said Mr Ahern.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said Mr Ahern failed as a politician and as an accountant by signing blank cheques and not asking what the money was used for. He added that the Taoiseach's refusal to answer questions in the Dáil about the cheques yesterday showed that the "same old attitude" remained within Fianna Fáil.
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said Mr Ahern's abnegation of responsibility in the management of the party leader's account had come back to haunt him.
The PDs made no contribution to the debate and Michael McDowell, the party leader, later defended that decision. "The PDs know exactly where they stand on the Moriarty tribunal. There was only 90 minutes unfortunately for today's discussion in the Dáil and the public knows exactly where I stand and the party stands on Charlie Haughey," the Tánaiste said.
In his contribution, the Taoiseach said it was a cause of deep personal hurt that the tribunal had found serious misappropriation of donations intended to assist with the medical treatment of the late Brian Lenihan.
"The revelation that Mr Haughey, for his own personal benefit, redirected those and other donations, such as the political donations intended for the Fianna Fáil party, was a matter of grave disappointment for me and for those who worked with him," said Mr Ahern.
He said that to all who knew Haughey - who worked with him over the years and who saw him as a dynamic colleague and leader of exceptional abilities - the detailed revelations in the tribunal report came as a grave disappointment.
