MR MICHAEL Lowry, whose resignation sparked Judge Gerard Buchanan's investigation into political payments from Dunnes Stores, has said the judge's report "unsatisfactorily sheds no new light on over half the payments contained in the Price Waterhouse report".
In a statement last night, Mr Lowry said he had made "a unique and most comprehensive statement in a very public way before Dail Eireann and the country last December.
Mr Lowry said: "I emphatically and categorically restate that any payments referred to in the Price Waterhouse report, as made to me/Streamline Enterprises by Dunnes Stores/Ben Dunne, were solely and exclusively for the provision of professional refrigeration advice and services. They had nothing whatsoever to do with my role as a public representative.
"I reaffirm my intention to cooperate fully with any inquiry established by the Government to get to the truth of these matters urgently", Mr Lowry added.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the sub-committee examining the Buchanan report, Mr Michael Bell, said he had never believed that a judicial inquiry, as demanded by the Opposition, was the way to go. The sub-committee members should complete their work, he said. It would then be up to the Government to decide how to proceed.
The Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, questioned how long it might take for "a barrel of names to be revealed" since it had already taken over two months for a handful to come out. "Where is this leading us to? Is it not highlighting the need to establish a tribunal, which was called for in the first instance?"
He added: "I am conscious that in the matter of a few months, if not a few weeks, there will be a general election . . . I want to, know the truth. As I made clear, before, I do not care what the report contains, but I will not waste my time worrying about the findings of reports that are being drip-fed."
Calling on the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, to move immediately to establish a tribunal of inquiry, the leader of the Progressive Democrats, Ms Mary Harney, said that, in the wake of publication of the Buchanan report, "this approach has clearly failed".
Judge Buchanan had found that close to £4 million of the £5.6 million in payments which he was investigating could not be attributed to any beneficiaries. "Moreover, his investigations were unable to confirm or deny allegations that over £1 million was paid to a former minister" she added.