The Taoiseach strongly rejected a report that Fianna Fail benefited from funds brought into the State under the passports-for-sale scheme. His remarks were cheered by Government backbenchers.
A visibly angry Mr Ahern, seated next to the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, on the Government benches, said: "This matter is an even bigger ball of smoke than the other ones I have had to deal with in the last few days. I also say that there were repeated representations made about this case and they did not come from anyone on this side of the House.
"I would have liked to have been on the Morning Ireland programme to answer these things, quite frankly . . . This is like everything else in the past week: it is a nonsense, and I have to follow standing orders (in the Dail) to answer it.
"But it seems, and with the greatest respect to everybody, the file on this matter, the investment file, is in the Moriarty tribunal . . . other matters last week from the Flood tribunal . . . and I am here answering them . . . But this is a load of lies, the allegations made this morning were totally wrong . . .
"Can I say something? I am going about trying to run this country today and do my work. I will come back at a lot of inconvenience to do what your (the Ceann Comhairle's) office has asked me to do. But it is a disgrace that I should have to answer something that has nothing in it.
"This is not an investment account. It was an ordinary account. It wasn't even a donation . . . " Earlier, Mr Ahern said: "There is no question of me . . . I have no power over immunity for people at the tribunal, no request was made for me to give anybody immunity, I have no knowledge of any immunity, nobody raised anything about immunity for Mr Ray Burke . . . " The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, intervened to say that no such allegation had been made. Mr Ahern replied: "It has been made outside of the House."
Mr Ahern was giving his initial response, in the Dail yesterday morning, to the report in The Irish Times that money was diverted from the ICC bank account of a passport investor to a Fianna Fail account in another financial institution in 1993. He said he was glad that the Ceann Comhairle had agreed to an opposition request for an emergency debate at 3.30 p.m. Unfortunately, he added, he could not take the debate earlier because he was scheduled to attend a civic reception in Wexford. He would return to the House later.