While the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, insisted that there was nothing improper in the use of the diplomatic bag to send Fianna Fáil election literature to diplomats abroad, he responded to Opposition criticism by ordering a review of the practice yesterday, writes Arthur Beesley, Political Reporter.
The PDs said last night they were not told the facility was available to all parties at election time.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, denied claims by Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens that he had abused his position by signing a circular urging diplomats and consular staff to vote Fianna Fáil in Friday's elections and support the citizenship referendum.
Mr Ahern said the initiative was "not worth a candle" to Fianna Fáil's campaign. "To be honest, this is no great benefit to us; it's certainly not an abuse of anything. It's in the Electoral Act; it's law."
Mr Cowen said his Department sanctioned use of the diplomatic bag after it received a Fianna Fáil enquiry. The review would ensure that guidelines on the use of this facility were circulated to other parties.
However, the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, who made the circular public on Saturday, dismissed the review as a pointless exercise in the wake of an "old-style" Fianna Fáil stroke.
The controversy follows Mr Ahern's rebuke of the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, and Minister of State Mr Frank Fahey for using Departmental offices in the preparation of election literature.
As Opposition parties said they were never told the facility was available to parties who want to canvass oversees personnel, the PDs said they were also not told. "We were not aware, and we're not prepared to comment any further," said a PDs spokesman.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the review would decide whether the bag should contain all election material to officials abroad, or whether use of it should be confined to material personally addressed.
"The norm up to now has been that election material addressed to individuals was forwarded by the Department to the addressees," it said. "In the present electoral context, one political party sent material to the Department for general circulation to officers serving abroad, and this material was circulated."
The Department said the Defence Forces and Garda circulated such material to members abroad.
While a Defence Forces spokesman confirmed that the forces had sent material to members, he said this followed publication of an invitation to all those contesting the elections.