Taoiseach Enda Kenny is resisting Fianna Fáil demands that he withdraw a “partisan slur” about the alleged destruction of records on the banking crisis by the last government.

While Mr Kenny has publicly questioned the lack of records held by his department, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said in the Dáil yesterday a list of files released under the Freedom of Information Act showed there was no attempt to destroy official documents.

The list provided by the department cites 64 files created between September 28th, 2008 – two days before the Fianna Fáil-Green coalition guaranteed the liabilities of the banks – and mid-November that year. The list cites a further 55 records between then and March 2011, when Mr Kenny took office.

“There was no attempt to shred any records,” said Mr Martin. “You should be man enough to accept that is the case and you should withdraw that assertion.” Mr Kenny said he did not engage in low, partisan politics and said many of the documents were inconsequential. However, Mr Martin insisted that “consequential documents’’ such as government memos were available.

At the same time, Mr Kenny’s spokesman said topics of lesser significance than the banking crisis had led to the creation of bigger files.

On whether the Taoiseach would withdraw assertions about the shredding of documents, a senior Fine Gael source said the amount of data recorded by the department was in “inverse proportion” to the decision made. “Our comments in relation to the files are factual. He can choose to interpret them as he sees fit,” the source said of Mr Martin’s intervention.

The list of files he received under Freedom of Information cite three government memos between September 2008 and mid-November, and notes of calls between then taoiseach Brian Cowen, then British leader Gordon Brown and then French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Also cited was a letter from National Irish Bank to the late Brian Lenihan, then minister for finance, and several emails from the attorney general.