Fianna Fáil received over half the political donations declared by TDs and Senators last year, according to figures released today by the Public Offices Commission.
Political donations worth £87,799 were disclosed in 2000 with Fianna Fáil accounting for the highest proportion - 50.9 per cent, valued at £44,669 - the figures showed.
This is a marked rise in the value of donations received by the party which declared £65,024 in 1999 - 37.5 per cent of the total declared for that year.
The overall donations last year were notably lower than the £173,513 declared in 1999. This was due to the European parliament election, a spokesman for the Commission said.
In 2000 no donations were declared by MEPs, whereas in 1999 the 15 MEPs declared a total of £75,134 in donations.
In 2000 Fine Gael received £25,511 (29.1 per cent of the total), the Labour Party received £4,876 (5.6 per cent), and the PDs received £1,729 (2 per cent). Non-party members and the Ceann Comhairle accounted for £11,008 of the total(12.5 per cent).
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, declared donations of £9,000 for the use of his party offices in Upper Mount Street, Dublin.
Mr David Andrews, Fianna Fáil TD, declared a £3,600 donation from Metro Cabs, while Mr Sean Ardagh, Fianna Fáil TD, recieved a donation of £14,000 from the proceeds of Gala Millennium.
Mr James McDaid, Fianna Fáil TD, declared £6,864 for the use of constituency offices in Donegal.
Mr Gay Mitchell, Fine Gael TD, received £8,750 for secretarial support.
Mr Seamus Healy, independent South Tipperary TD, declared election expenditure of £8,858.
Senator Tom Hayes, Fine Gael TD, received £11,648 in election expenditure.
Overall, 240 donations were declared for 2000. Only donations over £500 need to be disclosed and the commission said it was not notified of any anonymous donation over £100.