Ministers call findings shocking

The Moriarty tribunal report is "necessary, timely and extremely clear", said Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern. "It is damning, shocking and forensic. Above all it is credible."

He did not believe however that "one can contort the complex life and character of Charles Haughey into a single political narrative. Those who have tried have not been credible. The public understand the complexities because he was neither all hero nor all villain, neither all good nor all bad.

"Some of the hardest reading in this report relates to the abuse of the party leader's account system. The report acknowledges that it is noteworthy that the Taoiseach has insisted on reforming that system." The Government has "cleared away the previous ambiguities" and introduced the Standards in Public Office Act, Mr Ahern said.

Seán Ardagh (FF, Dublin South Central) said he was "absolutely astounded by the scale and enormity of the payments made between 1997 and the early 1990s", the equivalent of €45 million today. It was "paradoxical that as a result of these ill-gotten moneys, Mr Haughey only paid €5 million in a tax settlement, which is a relatively small amount. The money he received enabled him to retain and improve his estate in north county Dublin, which expanded significantly during the period in question".

Mr Ardagh added that Mr Haughey had "introduced the free travel scheme, provided decent increases in pensions and introduced succession rights for women and children. He was also responsible for significant developments in the arts".

Minister for Education Mary Hanafin, whose maiden speech in the Dáil in 1997 was on the founding of the tribunal, said the findings were "truly shocking" with "evidence of a past leader who has let us down, as members of Fianna Fáil and members of this House and who has let the country down." Ms Hanafin said: "I did not think I would be speaking on the very same topic I spoke on in my maiden speech, 10 years later. I sincerely hope I will not be talking about the same topic in 10 years' time."