The former Progressive Democrats leader, Mr Des O'Malley, has strongly rejected "insinuations of impropriety" on his part, following the disclosure of confidential donations to the party.
Mr O'Malley is said to have been "extremely upset personally" at the publication of the material in the Sunday Business Post. In a statement last night, he said the making of financial contributions to his party did not secure favourable treatment for any company or any individual.
"If it did, Mr (Larry) Goodman might never have had to appear before a beef tribunal, the establishment of which I insisted upon. In 30 years of public life I have sought at all times to uphold the highest standards of integrity. That is widely recognised and acknowledged," he added.
He also rejected "suggestions" that there was anything improper in his meetings with Dr Michael Smurfit. The Sunday Business Post reported that the Smurfit Group had made a £12,000 payment to the PDs, drawn from an offshore bank account in Jersey, and that Dr Smurfit had a confidential meeting with Mr O'Malley when he was minister for industry and commerce in 1992.
"As the minister with responsibility for industry, it was entirely normal and proper for me to meet with Mr Smurfit, as I did with many other leading industrialists during my time in office," Mr O'Malley said.
All these meetings were private but no request or suggestion whatever was made to him by Dr Smurfit pertaining to the Glackin inquiry into the sale of the Johnston Mooney & O'Brien site at Balls bridge, Dublin and "no intervention was made by me in the matter", he added.
"I would like to record that over a period of years, I have taken effective steps to discover and investigate irregularities in the commercial area. This has led, for example, to the truth about complex transactions in the beef industry and in relation to the Telecom site becoming known", Mr O'Malley said.
His actions had protected the State against very large claims and led to the implementation of statutory and administrative reforms to try to ensure greater propriety in corporate life, he added. "All of this has been done without regard to the personalities and interests involved."
As the PDs yesterday began an investigation into how the payments from donors to the party became public, Mr O'Malley declared his "deepest personal regret" that the files, including his personal correspondence, should be publicised in this way and that the confidentiality assured to contributors by the Progressive Democrats has now been breached.
"I will be writing to all of the persons named individually within the next few days, to express my deep personal regret at what has happened and to apologise for the embarrassment caused," he said.
His party colleague, Senator John Dardis, has undertaken the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the publication of financial files, from 1987 to early 1992, in the Sunday Business Post.
Mr Dardis is expected to report his findings to the party leader and Tanaiste, Ms Harney, by Friday.
The Progressive Democrats' headquarters at South Frederick Street in Dublin has been broken into at least twice in the last year. Nothing of significance was taken and there was no link between the break-ins and the discovery of the documents in a skip outside the headquarters building.
It is believed the documentation was destined for party archives.
With PD confidence further undermined by the newspaper revelations, the Labour Party spokesman on enterprise and employment, Mr Tommy Broughan, demanded that Ms Harney "examine her party's attitude to the State funding of the political process".
"Other questions arise from the donation by Tara Mines to the PDs in 1987. At that stage, 25 percent of the company was in State hands. Was the cheque paid to the PDs cleared by the board which contained two State nominees? Perhaps Mr O'Malley could clarify the position?" he asked.
Where stood the party's ambition to clean up politics now after the weekend report and the "housing scandal" in Carlow?, Mr Broughan asked. The Minister of State, Mr Bobby Molloy, is to be harried by Fine Gael in the Dail for a U-turn on the building of 26 houses close to the home of the PD chairman, Mr Jim Gibbons.