The Public Offices Commission is to inquire into contributions to Fianna Fáil by the controversial building group Bovale Developments, according to an article in today's Irish Times.
The company, which was condemned in the Flood report for making corrupt payments to the former minister Mr Ray Burke, gave €9,523 to Fianna Fáil in the year to March 31st, 2002, according to the latest annual return filed in the Companies Registration Office.
Persons or companies who make total contributions of more than €5,078 to a political party during a calendar year are obliged to file a return to the Public Offices Commission, which monitors donations to politicians. No return was made by Bovale.
A spokesman for the office said only one such return has been made in recent years and that the office believed the obligation is not widely understood. The only such filing to the office in recent years was from a Mr Tom Barry, who made a number of contributions to Fine Gael in the same year.
A Fianna Fáil spokesman said the only recent donation from Bovale on record at party headquarters was €3,175 (£2,500). The donation was made by Bovale at the 2001 Galway races. As it did not exceed the €5,078 threshold, it was not reported to the commission.