Opposition response:The Moriarty tribunal report is a damning indictment of the record of Charles Haughey and confirms a culture of corruption existed in Fianna Fáil for decades, the main Opposition leaders said last night.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and Labour leader Pat Rabbitte also called on the Taoiseach to answer questions on the findings when the Dáil resumes in the new year.
Mr Kenny said the report confirms that "a culture of corruption, self-enrichment and the abuse of public and private monies" was prevalent within Fianna Fáil.
Mr Rabbitte said the report proves Mr Haughey was "on the take".
Asked if he thought there were implications for the Taoiseach Mr Kenny said: "An accountant did sign 1,600 cheques. The question of judgment has to be called into being. Perhaps if these questions had been asked in the beginning this might not have ever arisen.
"Clearly, in this case greed knew no bounds. The late Mr Haughey was £9 million in excess of his income, and obviously for those involved here the abuse of the monies collected for the late Brian Lenihan's operation will be deeply embarrassing and very hurtful," he added.
Mr Kenny said one of the lessons to be learned is that the public should always be put first and the public interest should be put before personal and party gain.
The Fine Gael leader said the Taoiseach needed to answer questions on the report in the Dáil in January. "It will be interesting to hear the views of Fianna Fáil Ministers on this report and obviously Fine Gael will be calling for a full scale debate on this report when the Dáil resumes."
He said the Taoiseach would be expected to reply to this debate. "We have consistently called for debates on a number of reports in the Dáil during the last session which didn't happen. Obviously this is a political priority and it will be put down as a priority question in the new year."
Meanwhile, Mr Rabbitte said the findings of the Moriarty report show "a man at the top of politics who was on the take". He said Mr Haughey took large amounts of money for personal use and was conferring favours on the donors or attempting to confer favours on the donors.
"This represents a damning indictment not just of the record of Charles J Haughey, but of the entire political culture in Fianna Fáil during the period when he dominated that party," he said.
Mr Rabbitte said despite the attempts by "the Fianna Fáil spinners" over recent months to downplay the findings, Judge Moriarty was unsparing in his criticism of Mr Haughey and other senior Fianna Fáil figures, both members of the parliamentary party and those who were key contributors to Mr Haughey and his party.
"This is a sorry tale of misuse of taxpayers' money, the placing of public servants under pressure to do the will of the then taoiseach, and a group of craven colleagues who were unwilling to challenge his writ," he said.
"It is hard to disagree with Judge Moriarty's conclusion that the payments received by Mr Haughey during his political career 'devalued the quality of a modern democracy' or the finding that the years from 1979 to 1992 'was a dismal period in the interface between politics and business'."
Mr Rabbitte said perhaps the most shocking finding in relation to Mr Haughey was on the question of the money raised for his friend and lifetime colleague, Brian Lenihan. "It is difficult to believe that somebody as wealthy as Mr Haughey could actually have set out to raise more money than he knew was required to fund Mr Lenihan's operation and then apply part of these funds for his own purpose," he said.