Opposition reaction: The main Opposition parties have accused the Taoiseach of failing to provide a satisfactory response to The Irish Times report that he received payments from wealthy businessmen while he was Minister for Finance in 1993.
Fine Gael environment spokesman Fergus O'Dowd said that while the Taoiseach had confirmed the substance of The Irish Times report, he had not provided a full explanation. "His failure to do so is potentially damaging to the office of the Taoiseach and the reputation of politics. To avoid any suggestion of impropriety, the Taoiseach should make a more complete statement regarding the amounts of money received and the donor or donors involved," Mr O'Dowd said.
He pointed out that the McCracken tribunal had raised serious questions about the dangers to senior politicians of receiving personal gifts from prominent businessmen and this view had been endorsed by the Taoiseach in September 1997. "The tribunal stresses a point I have repeatedly emphasised, that public representatives must not be under a personal financial obligation to anyone," Mr O'Dowd said.
The Labour finance spokeswoman said that if the substance of The Irish Times story was correct - that the Mahon tribunal was inquiring into a series of payments made to the Taoiseach in 1993 to meet legal bills incurred by Mr Ahern - then it raised a number of potentially serious issues for the Taoiseach to clarify.
"In 1996 Deputy Michael Lowry resigned from government following the disclosure that a multi-millionaire had paid for building work on his house. In this case the allegation appears to be that a multi-millionaire paid for legal bills incurred by Mr Ahern in the early 1990s," Joan Burton said.
Ms Burton said that while the latest allegations must be treated with some caution, as claims made in regard to payments to Mr Ahern in the past proved to be unfounded, there was an onus on the Taoiseach to clarify the position. "Notwithstanding that and also conscious of Mr Ahern's obligations to the Mahon tribunal, I believe that it would be helpful if the Taoiseach now made a statement clarifying whether or not such payments were made and, if so, the purposes of the payments," she said.
Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said that if the figure quoted by The Irish Times of €50,000 to €100,000 was "off the wall", as the Taoiseach claimed, it was important that he give a comprehensive account of the payments he received and the circumstances surrounding those payments without further delay.
"Bearing in mind that the Taoiseach deemed it appropriate to comment on this matter on Clare FM, it would seem to be appropriate to make a public statement to clarify matters," Mr Sargent said.
