Green reaction: Green Party leader Trevor Sargent last night accused Taoiseach Bertie Ahern of bringing his office "into disrepute" over the personal payments controversy.
He said Mr Ahern had lost "all moral authority" in relation to the issue and had further questions to answer. "The office of the Taoiseach is bigger than one person, including Bertie Ahern, and the person who holds the office must be beyond reproach . . .
"By taking payments from businessmen when minister for finance, and by the manner in which he has handled this issue, the Taoiseach has undermined confidence in his leadership and has brought his office into disrepute.
"It is impossible to reconcile the facts of these payments with the standards that he himself has enunciated in the past . . ."
Mr Sargent added there were further questions arising from "the new revelation that, while minister for finance, the Taoiseach used his position to raise monies for himself through speaking engagements . . .
"Through his actions and his evasions, the Taoiseach appears to have lost all moral authority to bring to book his Ministers and Ministers of State . . . The Taoiseach's statement is not credible. It displays a continued attempt to mislead the Irish people."
He said prior to the interview, the "plainest untruth propagated" by Mr Ahern was that the figure of €50,000 was "off the wall".
"It clearly was not 'off the wall'. The Taoiseach received at least €50,000, as was reported last week . . . The Taoiseach claims that these payments were loans, yet he has not repaid them and no interest has been charged. That, by any definition, is a gift."
Mr Sargent said the Taoiseach has further questions to answer on whether he should have paid tax on the loans. "He has questions to answer too on his appointment to positions on State bodies of some of the people named this evening," he added. "Saying that he appointed them simply because they were friends is far from satisfactory."