Ahern's account of cheque sought

Fine Gael and Labour are discussing a possible joint Dail motion demanding that the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, make a full statement about the £25,000 cheque he countersigned in 1989 which ended up in an account benefiting Mr Charles Haughey.

The proposed motion, framed by Fine Gael after legal advice, would call on the Taoiseach to clarify his position on the cheque; to correct what it says was a misleading statement to the Dail in September 1997; and to make a statement on the circumstances he described in correspondence with the Moriarty tribunal.

It would also call on him to publish as much of the correspondence with the tribunal as possible, without impinging on the rights of others.

A Fine Gael spokesman said the party had made its legal advice available to Labour. The parties were also considering a different approach: whether under House procedures there was an obligation to correct the record. "Our view is the issue is not going away," he said.

However, it may be a fortnight before the motion can be debated. The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, is abroad for part of this week, and the Dail is not sitting next week because of the elections.

Questioned in the Dail last week, Mr Ahern rejected suggestions that he had misled the House in his 1997 statement. He said he was precluded from discussing his statement to the tribunal about the cheque and cited correspondence from the tribunal in support of this.