Harney says the PDs are not in Government at any price

The Progressive Democrats are prepared to pull out of Government "if the public interest requires it", the party leader, Ms Harney, has said. Speaking on RTE radio yesterday, the Tanaiste said she was "not in Government at any price". "I would not stay in a government that concealed information from the public that was involved in wrongdoing. I would not stay in a government if decisions were not made on the basis of the most thorough examination if the disposal of State assets or the granting of licences was not a Cabinet decision."

Ms Harney said that she could not remain in a government if she were "compromised". "We came out of a government before and we weren't exactly in a strong position. The public demand a lot of the Progressive Democrats and the media do, too. You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. We were founded on certain principles and I will stand by those principles, even if it means leaving government and causing an election. "I will not do it lightly. This is a good government. We've had the peace agreement. The economy is doing extremely well. I think we've had an unprecedented level of success and I regret very much that these things have happened but we've got to put things in perspective. We've got to ensure that the tribunals are allowed to conduct their inquiries and we have to act upon whatever comes out of that - that's what's important."

Ms Harney said that she had raised "the Ray Burke issue with Bertie Ahern on certainly three occasions and maybe four". "I was assured by the Taoiseach that he had carried out an extensive inquiry and that no wrongdoing had occurred. There was a sum of money mentioned - that he got £30,000. I was certainly aware of that. I've said on record on many occasions that the receipt of £30,000 for an individual personal campaign is an extraordinary sum of money.

"I wish the investigation that was carried out before the Government was formed was more thorough. If I knew a year ago what I know now, I would not have been willing to participate in government with Mr Burke. But I was not going to start a new government with Fianna Fail looking for anybody's head. All I wanted was assurances. Once I got those assurances I accepted them and stood by them.

"If there were records that showed Rennicks had given money to Mr Burke, then it's a pity we didn't know about those records a year ago."