Kitt to respond to donation claim

Government chief whip Tom Kitt says he is checking his bank records in relation to a claim that he received an undisclosed £2,000 donation from a developer in the early 1990s.

Landowner Christopher Jones and the Jones Group made two donations totalling £2,500 to Mr Kitt in 1991 and 1992, it was claimed at the Planning tribunal last week. These were among payments totalling over £45,000 made to 20 politicians at a time when Mr Jones was seeking to have lands at Ballycullen in south Dublin rezoned.

Along with other Fianna Fáil representatives on Dublin county council, Mr Kitt was interviewed by the party's inquiry into payments to politicians five years ago. However, its report makes no mention of payments by Mr Jones to Mr Kitt.

Mr Kitt told the Fianna Fáil inquiry he never received donations from lobbyist Frank Dunlop and he would not have received donations from "builders/developers" in excess of £500 during this period.

Last week, tribunal lawyers said Mr Jones had provided documents which showed a payment of £2,000 to Mr Kitt on November 16th, 1992. No information had been provided by Mr Kitt to the inquiry in connection with this payment, according to senior counsel Patricia Dillon.

Dublin county council voted on October 29th, 1992, to rezone 60 acres of Mr Jones's land for housing. Mr Kitt was not on the council, having given up his seat that year on being appointed a minister of state, and did not vote on the issue.

Mr Jones has told the tribunal he also gave Mr Kitt £500 in May 1991 for a Fianna Fáil golf outing and Mr Kitt has acknowledged receiving this sum.

Contacted yesterday, Mr Kitt said he was precluded from discussing the matter because of his ongoing dealings with the tribunal. However, it is understood he has asked his bank to carry out extensive checks of his financial records from the early 1990s to ascertain whether he did indeed receive money from Mr Jones or his companies.

Mr Kitt, who represented Dundrum on the council from 1979 to 1992, is due to give evidence to the tribunal later this month.

Last week's evidence showed that several Fianna Fáil representatives, including Senator Don Lydon and GV Wright TD, had failed to disclose substantial donations from Mr Jones to their party inquiry held in 2000.