The former Fianna Fáil Lord Mayor of Dublin, Royston Brady, last night called on the Taoisseach to conduct an investigation into fundraising carried out for Mr Brady's unsuccessful attempt to win a seat in the European Parliament last June.
Mr Brady's comments came as a row intensified over the weekend about how an estimated €50,000 debt arising from the campaign should be paid.
Mr Brady said he had received solicitors' letters from suppliers to the campaign who had not been paid. He said that he had received an assurance from the Taoiseach that election expenses would be "covered".
Mr Brady said the Taoiseach appointed the members of the fundraising committee and that the Taoiseach should call in the members of the committee and question them individually "about the fundraising activities that went on in my name".
Mr Brady said he wanted to know how much was raised, the methods used to raise it, where the money came from, where it was spent and how much is outstanding. He wanted a 14-day deadline set for the fundraising committee to provide precise details as to when various suppliers with outstanding debts from the campaign would be paid. He said that if this information was not forthcoming, he would take legal advice and the matter could end up in the courts.
Yesterday it was reported that Mr Brady had signed a written agreement with Fianna Fáil before the European election promising that he would be responsible for the majority of expenditure on the campaign.
Mr Brady told The Irish Times last night that this was "completely separate and had nothing to do" with the issues of the campaign debt which he had raised in recent days.
Fianna Fáil told The Irish Times last week that Mr Brady's election agent Rory Scanlan had "absolute responsibility" for financing the campaign and the debts were not an issue for the party. Mr Scanlan said that all the money would be paid and that it was just a question of when.
A spokeswoman for Fianna Fáil declined to comment last night on Mr Brady's calls for an investigation by the Taoiseach. She said the issue was a matter for Mr Brady. She said that in an election the party would spend a set amount but that parallel to this, individual candidates would run a campaign which would be completely autonomous and for which they would have financial responsibility.
