Political reaction: The Criminal Assets Bureau's decision to levy a €2m tax demand against Mr Ray Burke, a former Minister for Foreign Affairs, was welcomed by a number of politicians last night.
Progressive Democrats TD Ms Fiona O'Malley said the CAB's action was "very necessary": "The pieces of the puzzle are beginning to fall into place. I think the public will be relieved that action is now being taken."
Pointing out that the Flood tribunal had found that Mr Burke had acted corruptly, she said: "The public has paid for the tribunals. It is very important that they see that action has been taken.This is a very clear and forceful message, though he does deserve due process.
"The courts will eventually have to decide," the Dún Laoghaire TD told The Irish Times last evening.
Labour TD Mr Joe Costello said the CAB's move against Mr Burke is "a significant development that will be widely welcomed by the public", coming as it does in the wake of the conviction of former planning official Mr George Redmond.
"I hope that the CAB action against Mr Burke and the conviction of Mr Redmond will send out a strong message that anyone holding public office involved in corrupt or illegal actions will be called to account," he said.
There has been "considerable public disappointment" that the findings made by the Flood tribunal against Mr Burke had "not led to stronger action on the part of the authorities".
But Mr Costello said the CAB's action "raises serious questions" about the political judgment of the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, in appointing Mr Burke to be Minister for Foreign Affairs, "despite the many questions that were being asked about his activities".
"You now have a situation where Mr Ahern's political mentor, Charles Haughey, is in disgrace with outstanding criminal charges still before the courts, while his chief political lieutenant has been hit for a demand for €2 million by the CAB.
"Mr Ahern has been either extraordinarily unlucky with his political friends or has shown exceptionally poor judgment in those he has chosen as his political associates," said Mr Costello.
Quoting Mr Ahern's defence of Mr Burke in the Dáil on October 7th, 1997, Mr Costello recalled that Mr Ahern had then described Mr Burke as "an honourable man" who had suffered "persistent hounding".
Although he declined to comment on Mr Burke's specific case, the leader of Fine Gael, Mr Enda Kenny, said the Criminal Assets Bureau has been "spectacularly successful" since its creation in the wake of the assassination of journalist Veronica Guerin.
The Government, he said, should give the CAB more powers to deal with all political corruption cases, rather than trying to establish any new agency to deal with political corruption, Mr Kenny told The Irish Times.
The Socialist Party TD, Mr Joe Higgins, welcomed the tax demand against Mr Burke, although he pointed out that it has taken six years to get this far, "while the State was able to jail compliant taxpayers involved in peaceful bin protests within weeks".
"It has been a long and tortuous process to get this far. We need to know the basis for the tax demand. What figures is it based on? Who were the payments from?" asked the Dublin West TD. "If there is evidence of corruption to support this, then I hope that Ray Burke will one day have the opportunity to have his day in court to face criminal charges," he told The Irish Times.
Green Party TD Mr Ciaran Cuffe said: "I think the public has become disillusioned about the tribunals. But this will give hope that they will come to a conclusion and be able to address corruption in politics."
However, he added: "The readiness of the courts to jail those who protested against waste charges stands in stark contrast to the inertia and delays that have characterised the State's pursuit of the wealthy and powerful. Hopefully the announcement by the Criminal Assets Bureau marks a change.
"I hope that white-collar crime and political corruption will now be tackled seriously," he said.
