The Taoiseach said he had done no wrong while Minister for Finance.

Mr Ahern was replying to a series of questions on the Order of Business. The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, asked if the Taoiseach would be making a statement in the House on the section of the Finance Bill of some years ago which was retrospective in its application relating to heritage homes and also regarding the allocation of the National Lottery contract.

Mr Ahern said he did not propose to do so. "I did commit myself the other day to get the matters checked. Both matters are in the Department of Finance." He added he would certainly respond to press queries about them.

Asked by Mr Bruton about the timescale for his response, and if it would be made available to members of the House, Mr Ahern said that all the facts were in the Department of Finance. "I do not have any facts. Needless to say, I am anxious that those facts which show I did nothing wrong are made known to the public, because I think when I got headlines to say I did, I should get headlines to say I didn't."

The Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said that on Monday, the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, had said, perhaps without the authority of the Taoiseach, that Mr Ahern would be answering questions raised at the weekend. He added that it would avoid much hassle on the Order of Business if there was a clear indication that the Taoiseach would take questions in the normal way. Two special notice questions he had submitted were turned down.

Mr Ahern said he had no records, files or briefing notes on the matters referred to. "All that information is in the Department of Finance. In the normal course, those matters would properly fall to the Department of Finance. "What the Minister for Finance said yesterday, and what I said on Sunday, was that anybody reading these files, which had been raised in the public domain, could come to only one conclusion . . . that there were direct allegations made against me. "I said I would ensure those files were sought and the information given to the media. That is my obligation. If anyone wants to follow up these matters, they will have to put down questions to the Department of Finance."