Fianna Fail raised less in large donations in 2000 than in any year since the requirement to declare donations of over £4,000 began in 1997, according to the party's general secretary, Mr Martin Mackin.
The party released the information arising from the Taoiseach's offer last Tuesday in the Dail to make available information concerning party fund-raising.
He said he was doing this in an attempt to refute suggestions that he was delaying legislation to limit private funding of political parties because he and his party "have been collecting enormous amounts of money". He told the Dail that "if anybody wishes to ascertain what we have collected I am prepared to make the information available to prove that is not the case".
Following a follow-up request from The Irish Times, Mr Ahern authorised Mr Mackin to release some information concerning recent party fund-raising. This information was given verbally by Mr Mackin rather than through an inspection of the books or accounts.
According to Mr Mackin the total amount of donations received last year worth over £4,000 - and therefore declarable to the Public Offices Commission - was around £150,000, the lowest since the declaration requirements came into operation in 1997.
This amounted to just a third of all donations received last year, he says. Therefore, some £300,000 was also given in donations worth under £4,000 which do not have to be declared. The party also raised a significant sum through its national collection which solicits small donations at church gates around the State. This collection typically raises £200,000 per annum.
A third of the total declarable donations in 2000 was made up of the donation of £50,000 received late in the year from businessman Mr Denis O'Brien.
The donation was both "a complete surprise" and "exceptional", according to Mr Mackin. Indeed the only other occasion on which the party received such a donation, according to its annual declarations since 1997, was in 1998 at the time of the Belfast Agreement referendum campaign from businessman Mr Martin Naughton.
The next largest donation received last year, according to Mr Mackin, was of £10,000 from the drinks company Cantrell and Cochrane. There were just 15 other donations worth more than £4,000, he says. All of these were of less than £10,000.
The £150,000 figure of declarable donations is the lowest received by the party since disclosure requirements first began in 1997. That year - a general election year - the party received close to £250,000 in declarable donations. In the same year Fine Gael received just £27,500 in donations worth more than £4,000 and Labour got £26,600.
The following year - the year of the Belfast Agreement referendum campaign - Fianna Fail received a massive £432,501. Fine Gael got £63,528 with Labour getting £51,741.
In 1999 Fianna Fail received £123,687 and $91,000, bringing its total to close to £200,000. Fine Gael got just £14,842 with Labour getting £51,121.
During the first quarter of this year, according to Mr Mackin, it took in £125,000 through standing order payments by members and supporters. Only two of the standing order payments are greater than £4,000 per annum and therefore liable for declaration to the Public Offices Commission, according to Mr Mackin.
Also in this quarter, Fianna Fail received £7,200 in late payments for golf classics held last year, and a further £19,850 in late payments arising from the major annual party fund-raising drive at Galway Races.
According to Mr Mackin "the vast bulk of our donations come from event-based fund-raising and small donations. That has been the case for some time now. I assume the Government will steer a sensible path on this despite the opportunistic stances of the Opposition parties."
He added: "I assume the Opposition parties will have no difficulties in similarly discussing their fund-raising and putting this information into the public domain."