Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Let me finish. I regard the donation of $50,000 to the Fine Gael Party as wrong. When the then leader of the party, former Taoiseach Mr. John Bruton, was made aware of it, he asked that it be returned immediately. I regret the circuitous route it had to follow before it was returned to Mr. O'Brien.

Fine Gael is criticised in the report for not overriding the legal advice it received from an eminent senior counsel. The party made available to that senior counsel all the documentation, evidence, notes and references to meetings so the counsel could give an opinion. That opinion was that the donation was not within the remit of the Moriarty tribunal. Mr. Justice Moriarty took a different view. When the matter was leaked and became public knowledge, the then leader of the party, Deputy Noonan, not only took the decision to refer the entire file to the Moriarty tribunal but waived a right to legal representation in respect of that matter, for which the Fine Gael Party was commended by the tribunal. Far from any cover-up taking place, the Fine Gael Party chose an eminent senior counsel to get an opinion, took that advice and when the matter became public in a different way, the then party leader referred the entire file to the tribunal.

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