THE DECISION by the constituency organisation of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to lend Celia Larkin £30,000 to buy a house was not "a run-of-the-mill disbursement", Minister for Finance Brian Cowen has said.
However, he said in Tullamore on Saturday that there were "a particular set of circumstances" involved within the organisation.
"The trustees made that money available for that specific purpose. It has been repaid, I understand, in recent times. It was a matter for the internal operators,
"Obviously, it isn't a run-of-the-mill disbursement that would take place in every constituency organisation. It was handled by the trustees in the way that they did. There has been no loss of funds to the party at the end of the day, and that is important."
Declaring his support for Mr Ahern, Mr Cowen said he had never offered "a running commentary on tribunal proceedings" and would not do so now. People could not say that the tribunal "has a job of work to do" and then suggest "that we should evaluate it day-by-day, hour-by-hour".
The Taoiseach had the confidence of Ministers and Fianna Fáil, he added.
Mr Ahern's tribunal appearances were "not compromising his efforts to do his job and he has the support of the party in the doing of that job. We need to allow them [ the tribunal] to get on with the work. Let the tribunal do its job, let the Government do our job and let us wait in the round for the conclusions of the tribunals".
Asked if he had confidence in Mr Ahern's leadership, Mr Cowen replied: "Absolutely, I am his Tánaiste and he enjoys my support."
Political donations had only been covered "in relatively recent times" by ethics legislation "put in place by a Fianna Fáil administration", he added.
Asked about donations that he has received during his career, Mr Cowen said they had gone "towards the normal expenses of the constituency and all of the rest of it".
Following a series of criticisms by Fianna Fáil Ministers of the tribunal, Mr Cowen was asked if he believed Judge Alan Mahon and his colleagues were acting honourably.
"The tribunal is operating to the best of its ability in an independent way . . . There obviously have been issues about how the tribunal's work has been conducted, not by the tribunal judges, but by continuing leaks.
"They feel that their work has been compromised by breaches of confidentiality, which I don't put at their feet, but they themselves acknowledge difficulties. It causes difficulties for people before the tribunals and it causes difficulties for the perception of how things are going within the tribunal.
"It isn't an easy situation for anybody because of the way that parallel inquiries are taking place outside. That is just the way that public affairs are conducted, I suppose."