PD reaction: Progressive Democrat Senator John Minihan said that the controversy surrounding Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had undoubtedly damaged the Progressive Democrats as well as the Government.
He called on Mr Ahern to clarify the issue of the payment of more than £8,000 sterling for speaking to a group of businessmen in Manchester while he was minister for finance in 1994.
Speaking on the Neil Prenderville Show on Cork's 96FM, Mr Minihan said he would be "a fool to say that the Government haven't been damaged by this, I'd be a fool to say that the Progressive Democrats as the junior partner in Government haven't been damaged by this."
Mr Minihan went on to say that he believed Mr Ahern still had questions to answer on the Manchester payment.
"My understanding from what he [ Mr Ahern] said is that it was one payment but he had done a number of functions.
"I don't know what the limits were in 1993 when he did this but he was a minister and he did receive money.
"He says that he has paid tax and dealt with them properly.
"What remains to be seen - did he deal with those properly in accordance with the code that is laid down for the way that ministers behave at the time and I genuinely don't know the answer to that," he said.
