Pressure on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to reveal more details about money he received in 1993 is likely to increase with a report today that the cash came in the form of repayable loans which have not yet been fully returned.
The Irish Timestoday reports that the donors of the cash refused Mr Ahern's offer to repay the outstanding sum. "He wants to repay them but the boy's won't take it back at the moment," the newspaper quotes an unnamed source.
Opposition parties have called on the Taoiseach to explain details of the money he received from businessmen in 1993 when he was minister for finance. But Mr Ahern has said his receipt of the money was a private matter and that he had disclosed full information to the tribunal.
The payment was revealed in leaked documents from the Mahon Tribunal published by The Irish Timeson Thursday. Mr Ahern described the details in the newspaper as "impeccable" but denied that a figure of €50,000 - €100,000 was involved.
The tribunal has been told that the money was used to pay legal bills.
Mr Ahern refused to answer questions on the matter yesterday but gave a statement to reporters in which he said the revelation came as a "calculated leak of confidential material which was made available to the Mahon tribunal".
The tribunal has launched an investigation into the leak.