The Taoiseach has said he will consider whether to seek the return of any money misspent from the Fianna Fail party leader's account when the Moriarty tribunal has concluded. Mr Ahern also strongly endorsed Mr Noel Dempsey's proposals for electoral reform, but cast doubt last night on whether anything would be done on the subject during the lifetime of this Government. He rejected the Opposition view that electoral reform was "some sort of Fianna Fail trick".
Speaking to reporters in Budapest, Mr Ahern said he would not comment on suggestions that he seek the return of party or taxpayers' money allegedly spent improperly until the Moriarty tribunal had finished.
However, he said in its closing submission to the tribunal, "Fianna Fail will put certain suggestions on how the public money that goes into the political system is administered and precisely what is done with it".
He strongly supported the proposal in the review of the Government programme that party leaders' accounts be submitted to the Public Offices Commission in the future. He said Fianna Fail's party leader's account was already audited externally, and had been since 1992 when Mr Haughey ceased to be party leader.
Mr Ahern said that from the moment he discovered a cheque countersigned by him had ended up in a Guinness & Mahon account for Mr Haughey's benefit, "I determined I would make changes to the way that account was handled."
The Fianna Fail party leader's account was now audited internally and externally and the ac counts were shown to the party trustees. Under the new proposal the accounts would also be given to the Public Offices Commission.
He thought this was right despite the fact not all the money in the Fianna Fail party leader's account was taxpayers' money, as some private political donations also went into it. "There is an element of taxpayers' money" in the account, he said, so the audited accounts "should be there for people to see".
Mr Ahern stated his determination that the Government would last for a full term. The review of the Government programme "will bring us up to summer 2002", he maintained, "and will keep this Government busy into its fifth year".
He said electoral reform had to be on the agenda of reforms being considered. "The Opposition get excited that this is some sort of Fianna Fail trick, that this is Fianna Fail trying to take over. It's not that."
He said it was for all parties to look at this issue and discuss whether the system that exists was the best one for the future.
"Noel Dempsey has done work on it, the general public view is that the number of seats is too many. That has to be looked at, but whether we can get all these things done in the lifetime of this Dail is another matter."
He said the Government was trying to generate debate on the matter.