The following statement was issued by the Labour Party last night:
The Labour Party Leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, TD, said last night that the latest revelations concerning payments made to Fianna Fail and Mr Ray Burke raised serious questions which the Taoiseach, as present leader of Fianna Fail, had a responsibility to answer.
Mr Ahern must clear the air and explain how a version of events clearly inconsistent with the facts as they now appear was allowed to remain on the record for so many weeks.
At least the following questions must be answered.
(1) Is it the case, as is alleged by Magill magazine, that Fianna Fail head office became aware of a donation from Fitzwilton and had to "make representations" to Mr Burke for payment to it of a portion of the £30,000 which he received from Fitzwilton?
(2) Why did Fianna Fail not seek to correct the record of the House and allow an entirely misleading impression to be given by Mr Burke when he stated that the £30,000 he received from JMSE was "the largest contribution I have ever received during any election campaign either before or since"?
(3) Why was a similarly misleading impression of the facts permitted to rest on the record, to the effect that the £10,000 transferred by Mr Burke to his party's head office had come from JMSE rather than Fitzwilton?
(4) Who in Fianna Fail knew - and when - that one transfer of £10,000 by Mr Burke to head office was being relied upon for two purposes and as representing a portion of donations made by two separate organisations.
(5) In the light of the Magill revelations, is the Taoiseach able to stand over his claim reported in the newspapers of the 21st July, that he had gone to "extraordinary lengths" to find out about the payment to Mr Burke by JMSE and that he knew the circumstances and was satisfied about the matter?