The Taoiseach has told Mr John Bruton that he could "finger" up to nine politicians who had received donations as large as that made to Mr Ray Burke. According to Mr Bruton, Mr Ahern made this statement to him at a private meeting on September 4th when they were having an informal discussion about the possible follow-up to the McCracken tribunal.
Meanwhile, after a 1 1/2-hour meeting between party whips, amendments to the terms of reference of the new planning tribunal were substantially agreed late last night. Though the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Burke, will not be named, the Government has given in to Opposition pressure that the inquiry will deal, in the first instance, "with the acknowledged monetary donation debated in Dail Eireann on September 10th".
That was the day that Mr Burke made a statement and answered questions about the circumstances surrounding the receipt of £30,000 from Mr James Gogarty in two brown envelopes during the 1989 election campaign.
The Government has also accepted a variation of an amendment proposed by the Labour leader, Mr Dick Spring, requiring Mr Michael Bailey, Mr James Gogarty, Bovale Ltd or JMSE Ltd to outline whether they "offered or made any payments to or conferred any benefits on any member of the Oireachtas, any member or official of a relevant local authority or any political party" in connection with the development of the 726 acres of north Dublin lands.
Under another change obtained from the Government, the tribunal can seek discovery of all relevant documents, files and papers in the possession, power or procurement of Mr Bailey, Mr Gogarty and solicitors Donnelly Neary and Donnelly.
The party whips will meet at noon today to finalise agreement on the terms which will be debated in the Dail for several hours next Tuesday. The Fine Gael front bench will meet earlier to consider the changes. It is intended that the new tribunal will report on the history of the 726 acres of land and the donation to Mr Burke "not later than December 31st".
Meanwhile, in a new twist in Burke controversy, Mr Bruton told The Irish Times last night that he had taken a note of the Taoiseach's remark to him on September 4th that "I could finger similarly big donations to five, or even nine, others".
He had decided to go public on the statement, he said, because of the constant stream of smears being made by Fianna Fail about members of Fine Gael.
When allegations about Fine Gael were "thrown out" by the Minister for Community and Family Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern, on RTE's Questions and Answers and, later, across the floor of the Dail, Mr Bruton said that he decided to go back to Mr Ahern on September 23rd to clarify the matter.
"I asked him to tell me who the five, or even nine, names that he said he could finger were", Mr Bruton said. "He could give me no names whatsoever".
Mr Bruton continued that, regretfully, he was releasing the content of the Taoiseach's statement to him because Mr Ahern was insisting in the Dail that he did not know any names.
He said that, because of his private conversations with Mr Ahern, he was particularly incensed by the statement issued by Minister of State Mr Willie O'Dea yesterday, questioning whether "the Opposition feared that some of its own members might come within the net of a separate inquiry". Mr O'Dea asked Mr Bruton to explain why he had asked the Taoiseach if he was aware of the involvement of any member of Fine Gael in planning controversies.
The Taoiseach told the Dail earlier yesterday that he had signed the formal order setting up the Moriarty tribunal into payments to former Taoiseach Mr Charles Haughey and former minister Mr Michael Lowry, last Friday. That was the day the Government first signalled that it might be prepared to establish a separate inquiry into the contents of the planning letter.
The Government has also decided that the administrative team which assisted Mr Justice McCracken in his work will serve the new Moriarty tribunal.
Mr Ahern also confirmed a recent Irish Times report that Mr Gogarty had written to him. The letter was considered in the light of the facts then known to him, he said, and also in the light of the fact that Mr Gogarty had not then, "and as I understand it, has not still signed a statement of complaint for the gardai".
In these circumstances, Mr Ahern continued, no action was warranted by him at that time.
