The Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, has criticised a Fine Gael proposal to change the terms of reference of the Moriarty tribunal.
The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, had earlier this week invited the Opposition leaders to address the question of Mr Charles Haughey's High Court challenge to the inquiry by widening the terms set by the Dail last September. This, he claimed, would avoid delays in the work of the tribunal which might result from Mr Haughey's court action.
Mr Bruton also wrote to the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, asking the Government to accept a Fine Gael amendment which it had earlier rejected. This would allow for an examination of all the Ansbacher accounts in the context of possible tax evasion, but would not identify the depositors.
Rejecting Mr Bruton's suggestion, Mr Quinn pointed out that Mr Haughey's case was at an early stage. Accordingly, it would not be possible to assess the relevant or irrelevant points at this time.
"The reality is that the courts have yet to adjudicate, and the merit of the argument has yet to be assessed. It would be wrong to try to anticipate the case being made in a clumsy way and especially in a way which appears to concede that Mr Haughey's case would be valid in the absence of an amendment to the terms of reference", Mr Quinn wrote.
He also criticised Fine Gael for abstaining on a Labour amendment that the tribunal should investigate and name the Ansbacher account-holders generally and not just concentrate on Mr Haughey.
Mr Quinn told Mr Bruton that Fine Gael's amendment, "which you are now seeking to revive", was substantially weaker than Labour's. According to the Labour leader, Fine Gael's amendment was "well-intentioned but inadequate".
It did not, he claimed, seek to identify the actual depositors, but merely the "procedures" whereby Irish depositors could have their money held offshore.
"Indeed, I am surprised that you have reproduced your original amendment verbatim because, after it was defeated, the Government accepted a Labour Party amendment with a Government amendment which covered one of the points mentioned, the need to make recommendations to combat tax evasion. Your letter takes no account of the fact that this is now included in the Moriarty tribunal's terms of reference", Mr Quinn stated.
He also expressed regret that Fine Gael's finance spokesman, Mr Michael Noonan, had told the Dail last September that there should not be "some kind of prurient trawl" through the private affairs of law-abiding citizens.
Agreeing that the party leaders should be involved in formal consultations in relation to Mr Haughey's challenge to the tribunal, Mr Quinn said that he would ask his whips to raise the matter with the Committee on Procedure and Privileges in both the Dail and Seanad.