The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, has defended her party's acceptance of separate donations of £50,000 (€63,487) from Ryanair and Treasury Holdings.
Speaking in Galway yesterday - for the first time since the size of the Ryanair donation was revealed - the Tánaiste expressed confidence that existing structures ensured business could not unduly influence parties in Government.
Treasury Holdings has a 50 per cent share holding in the Spencer Dock Development Company, which proposed a major plan on CIÉ property in Dublin's docklands, while the Ryanair chief executive, Mr Michael O'Leary, has been lobbying to build a terminal for his airline's use at Dublin airport.
"I have no dealings with Spencer Dock," said the Tánaiste. "It has nothing to do with me. It's a planning matter and it was An Bord Pleanála who turned down the application. It is not a matter for Government," she said.
"Just to put it into context, two of our party election candidates have pharmacies, and the Government regulated and removed some of the restrictions on pharmacies. So it would be wrong to assume that because people are close to politicians that the wrong decisions are made," said the Tánaiste.
The Tánaiste has already confirmed the Ryanair donation and asked the Government secretary to put the existence of the contribution on the record. The amount was confirmed at the weekend as £50,000 by a spokesman for the Progressive Democrats. Treasury Holdings also gave £50,000 during last year to the party.
The Tánaiste was in Galway to announce a €9 million (£7.09 million) regional venture capital fund to support both existing companies and early stage "start-up" businesses with high export growth potential in the west and border counties.
The initiative is a public-private partnership between Enterprise Ireland and Enterprise Equity Venture Capital Group, with each side contributing €4.5 million to the fund. Enterprise Equity is a private venture capital group established by the International Fund for Ireland in 1987. It is the first private venture capital company to set up an office in the west of Ireland.
"The idea is to put in between €250,000 and €1.35 billion," the Tánaiste said. She said it represented a "step change" in commercial venture capital terms, and was a "considerable boost to the Government's policy of regional economic development".
Ms Harney also initiated a support programme for entrepreneurial companies in the regions. Named Excellerator, it represents a public-private partnership between Enterprise Ireland, Shannon Development and Ernst Young. The programme will be applied nationwide, and aims to facilitate an exchange of expertise and address specific "skills and knowledge gaps".
