Green Party briefing:The Green Party has said Fianna Fáil does not have a monopoly on corruption, and it would be demanding an end to corporate donations in any government deal.
Party leader Trevor Sargent said while Fianna Fáil may have a leading role in the drama at the Mahon tribunal, "it certainly is not the only player".
He said he experienced corruption at first hand when he tried to expose it back in the early 1990s in Dublin county council.
"I was attacked by councillors and Oireachtas members from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. So therein lies a conundrum when you are talking about the next government, and certainly for us it sets a very clear requirement that corruption will be addressed in the body politic. And the first step towards that is the ending of corporate donations."
Mr Sargent told a press conference yesterday an end to corporate donations was a core principle of the party.
"It is not just Fianna Fáil which has the monopoly on corruption, so we have to look at the whole body politic to ensure that the culture that has brought about bad planning through corruption and therein wasted vast amounts of money."
The party's health spokesman John Gormley said the party aimed to introduce the strictest ethical standards. "People talk about the Bertie issue, but the real issue is the interaction between big business and politics and its influence on all aspects of Irish life and particularly planning."
On the Taoiseach's statement on Sunday on money he received, Mr Sargent said accounts of events were "very difficult to stack up". "It is extraordinary that it is seen as acceptable for any senior politician to be getting large gifts. It just compromises the integrity of the office and gives politics a bad name."
Going on a recent poll, the issue whether the Greens go into government with Fianna Fail would not arise.
"Fianna Fáil will not be the next government, going by poll results, and we are glad because we need that change, and that change will not happen unless the Green Party is involved in that government."