Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has insisted he has no political deal with Mayo TD Beverley Flynn, although Ms Flynn has publicly talked of negotiations with him on supporting the current Government.
Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon, Mr Ahern said he had only signed political deals, as leader of Fianna Fáil, with three independent TDs with regard to their support for the Government. They were Kerry South TD Jackie Healy Rae, Dublin North Central TD Finian McGrath and Tipperary North TD Michael Lowry, he said.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern signalled that Beverley Flynn might be appointed to a junior ministry
"I have no arrangement with Deputy Beverley Cooper Flynn," Mr Ahern said.
He said the deals covered areas that were in the National Development Plan, in Transport 21, in the multi-annual capital programmes and in public expenditure programmes. They were not outside planned current expenditure in the years ahead, he said.
Mr Ahern said that, as he have endeavoured to do for the last 10 years, he would do his best to deliver on those political commitments.
"They are not issues outside of what we have been trying to do, but several times I would try to bring forward initiatives, perhaps quicker, I would try to do it in a more efficient way, and they are political commitments that I intend to honour to the three deputies," Mr Ahern told the Dáil.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny asked whether it was the case that the Taoiseach had allocated "sections of the National Development programme that might be geographically based, and put them in the name of individual deputies who are or were independent in the house".
"It appears now as if what you have announced here is nothing more than regurgitated sections of the National Development programme and that the deals or arrangements or political deals with these Members of the House are nothing extraordinary at all."
He asked Mr Ahern to confirm that none of the deals involve "direct access to you as Taoiseach, or direct access to Ministers without hindrance".
Mr Ahern insisted the agreements were "priority issues" for the three deputies with whom he had entered into "political commitments".
"They are issues in the Programme for Government or issues in the National Development Plan, issues in Transport 21or in any other of the Government's documents where members have items which they want to see progressed, they want to see delivered, they want to see implemented. And as I have done for the last decade, I will do my utmost to do that. It's not allocating sections of the national plan."
The deputies involved would have direct contact with the Whip's office, Mr Ahern said.
Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte asked whether there was a record of the deals and whether it was his intention to publish them.
"Deputy Healy Rae said he had secured commitments worth 'tens of millions of euros' for his constituency," Mr Rabbitte stated.
"However, Mr McGrath did say that what he had agreed was worth 'hundreds of millions of euros nationally', including €300 million for services for people with disabilities."
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
"Now, Deputy Healy Rae says that it's a private, personal document and that there's no hope in the wide earthly world of us seeing it. Now this is all taxpayers money, Taoiseach, and I want to know from you whether these are going to be published.
"I mean we have a number of independent deputies running around the House waving bits of paper, admittedly fairly opaquely. We know that Deputy Healy Rae seems to be ferrying around a piece of paper like the third secret of Fatima, and all you can see on it is that the deal is with Fianna Fail."
"We seem to have an extraordinary situation here, that there's four independent deputies in the House who think they have deals, written deals, with you. There's a party in Government, the PDs, who has no deal with you at all. You won't publish the four deals that these deputies say are worth hundreds of millions," Mr Rabbitte added.
"So are you saying to the House, that these independent deputies are fools, that in fact they got nothing at all, it was all in the National Development Plan or it was all in the multi-annual programme of the Budget, or it was all in Transport 21?. If it was, what's the problem? What's it all about? What did they get?
"How can it be posited that you have earned the support for five years, if you think you have, from these deputies, and they got nothing in return? Now did they get anything Taoiseach, or are you saying that they foolishly pledged their support to you for five years in return for nothing that wasn't already in the Fianna Fail programme."
Mr Ahern said the Programme for Government was published but the political agreements were not. They were issues which he would give his "best endeavour" to deliver.
"We spend €52 billion on the current programme every year, we spent €187 billion on the National Development Plan, €34 billion on the transport issue. We are spending billions and there are important initiatives that these three deputies, not four, have asked me to use my best endeavours within the system and within these programmes to implement. And that I intend doing for them," the Taoiseach said.
Mr Rabbitte said he was "quite prepared to cede Labour time to Deputy McGrath to hear what he got".
"Apparently, it's not just of national consequence but of international consequence, it involves the reform of the United Nations. Does the Secretary General of the United Nations know this?"
Mr Ahern recently gave indications that Ms Flynn, who was expelled from Fianna Fáil in the wake of her failed libel case against RTÉ, had a political future within the party once she had sorted out her personal affairs. She reached a settlement with RTE this week in relation to outstanding legal fees for her failed libel action.
Mr Ahern also signalled that the Mayo TD might be appointed to a junior ministry within the lifetime of the current Government.
The Fianna Fáil general secretary and other senior figures are to have talks with the party organisation in Mayo in September to help to prepare the way for Ms Flynn's readmission to the party, The Irish Timesreported today.