Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said he was disappointed with comments made by party backbencher Lucinda Creighton over political donations.
Speaking to reporters outside the MacGill Summer School in Donegal this evening Mr Kenny said party funding is an “internal party matter” and he was ”disappointed they were raised at a public forum”.
On Tuesday, during an address at the same school, Ms Creighton warned of the dangers of accepting political donations from bankers and property developers.
Ms Creighton revived tensions within her party during a sharply critical speech arising out of the presence of a Cork property developer at a fundraising event.
Mr Michael O'Flynn is company chairman and managing director of Cork-based O'Flynn Construction, which transferred debts approaching €1billion to the National Asset Management Agency (Nama). He was recently reported as attending as sponsor of a €1,500 fourball at a golf fundraiser at the K Club, organised by Fine Gael.
In her speech Ms Creighton said: “There can be no room in Fine Gael for cute-hoor politics. These are the politics which have defined and tainted Irish public life like an incurable cancer.
“We cannot be satisfied with low standards in high places. Fine Gael in government must be much, much more than simply ‘Fianna Fáil Light’.
“We cannot, on the one hand, condemn Fianna Fáil for entertaining developers in the Galway tent, while on the other hand extend the biscuit tin for contributions from high-profile developers, who are beholden to Nama. The Irish people expect more from Fine Gael; they demand more, and they are right," she said.
However, this evening Mr Kenny said the party has "no truck with rogue builders, with hooky characters or shady characters.”
“We have no dealings with brown envelopes, influence-buying, or dig-outs."
“The Fine Gael party is absolutely above board in all its financial dealings,” he added.