The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said last night that Fianna Fail was prepared to hand over any information sought by the Flood Tribunal regarding an alleged £50,000 donation which a developer said he gave to Mr Padraig Flynn, the former minister. The Taoiseach declined to say if Fianna Fail had received the money.
Mr Ahern made his comments on RTE news last night in response to weekend newspaper reports that Mr Flynn, now European Commissioner, had received £50,000 for the party from Mr Thomas Gilmartin in the 1980s.
Mr Flynn denies that he was the recipient of a cheque for £50,000 - intended as a contribution to Fianna Fail. According to a report in the Sunday Independent, Mr Flynn, in a written response to questions, said he had received a general letter from the tribunal asking if he had any information or documentation relevant to its work. "I responded saying `no'," he said.
Last night Mr Ahern said that as far as the Government and as far as Fianna Fail was concerned, the Oireachtas had set up two judicial tribunals, and they should be allowed to examine these matters.
"The integrity of the tribunals should be maintained and there should be no interference with them. That is our view and they should be allowed to finish their work as quickly as possible.
"From the Government's point of view, and from Fianna Fail's point of view, any information that the tribunals wish to have, any papers they wish to seek, or any facts that we have will be given to them", the Taoiseach said.
Asked if he could confirm whether or not Fianna Fail had received the money at the centre of the allegations, he replied: "Fianna Fail has better records than any other party and we have made any information that the tribunals have asked us for available to them. And that would include any questions about this matter."
Pressed further as to whether the £50,000 payment had been received by the party, he said: "I am not prepared to say anything about any contribution or inscription. I don't particularly know in this case, but as far as I am concerned it is entirely wrong to have judicial tribunals set up by the Oireachtas, where we delegate our powers to them, and to have a separate tribunal going on in another forum. That is not something which I am prepared to accept."
When contacted by The Irish Times at the weekend Mr Gilmartin said that he did not intend to come to the Republic to give evidence at the planning tribunal.
The Fianna Fail Minister for State at the Department of Health and Children, Mr Frank Fahey, has described as "pathetic journalism" reports concerning the donation Mr Gilmartin said he made.
Speaking on RTE's Questions And Answers programme last night Mr Fahey said he thought Mr Flynn had been "treated very unfairly, particularly by the Sun- day Independent. He said of that newspaper's first story on the matter last Sunday week that "you didn't need to be particularly brainy" to realise who the story was about.
He thought it "viscous and most unfair . . . most unfair to all politicians." The newspaper, he said, had speculated with the story allowing it drip, drip through the week before carrying Mr Flynn's denial last Sunday.
On the same programme the leader of the Labour Party, Mr Ruairi Quinn said "we cannot rule out the possibility of a grouse by Mr Gilmartin".
"There has to be protection of innocence and a presumption of innocence until all the facts are available," he said.
He said he thought the media had an obligation to report. "I don't think you can stop a journalist running with a story," he said, but he believed "the other side" should get an opportunity to respond.