The Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, did not ask for details of the controversial $50,000 donation to his party when told of the existence of the cheque three weeks ago.
The party remained under pressure yesterday to explain the donation from the Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor, which had been a 40 per cent shareholder in Esat Digifone.
Esat, which in 1995 won the State's second mobile phone licence, later reimbursed Tel enor for the amount.
It was revealed last night that Mr Noonan, 12 days after he was elected party leader, asked the chairman of the party's board of trustees if there was anything concerning Fine Gael's finances which needed to be drawn to his attention.
The chairman, Mr Buddy Kiernan, told Mr Noonan that there was a cheque from Mr Denis O'Brien in the party safe about which the previous leader, Mr John Bruton, had been concerned, a party spokesman said. But Mr Kiernan assured Mr Noonan that this was something he did not need to be concerned about, as it had been dealt with. The spokesman said it was a very busy time and Mr Noonan had intended returning to the matter.
This donation, in fact, had been given to Fine Gael by Telenor. When the party discovered that the company was the actual donor, and the money was not a personal donation from the late Mr David Austin, a party fund-raiser, it decided to return the money.
Fine Gael sent a cheque for the amount to Telenor. Since this company had already been reimbursed by Esat, it for warded the money to Esat. Esat, in turn, returned the cheque to Fine Gael.
Last year Fine Gael accepted a donation of £50,000 from Mr O'Brien, an amount he also donated to Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats. Labour returned the unsolicited contribution.
Fine Gael yesterday sent, by courier, all information on file to lawyers for the Moriarty tribunal, according to the spokesman. He said that a bank draft for £33,000 would be sent to Telenor this morning, to the company's Irish address. A bank draft, he said, meant that the money was drawn from Fine Gael funds, unlike a cheque, which could remain uncashed.
The Progressive Democrats have said that a full inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the granting of the mobile phone licence to Esat Digifone should be carried out by the Oireachtas Committee on Public Enterprise and Transport.
Mr Des O'Malley TD wrote to the committee chairman, Mr Sean Doherty, requesting an investigation. He also wrote to the Government Chief Whip, Mr Seamus Brennan.
Mr Brennan told The Irish Times that Fianna Fail, which has a majority on the committee, would back its Government partners in this. However, he pointed out that the committee would be unable to examine the donation because it was a matter for the Moriarty tribunal.
Earlier yesterday, Mr Noonan published the legal advice requested by Fine Gael from Mr James Nugent SC in March 1998 after the party said it had discovered that the donation came from Telenor. That advice had concluded that the donation did not come under the terms of reference of the Moriarty tribunal and therefore did not need to be declared.