The Taoiseach today insisted he will not make any public comment on his financial affairs before appearing at the Mahon tribunal after the general election.
Green party leader Trevor Sargent
Asked today if he would make a statement on the issue and explain the payment of £30,000stg to his former partner Celia Larkin in 1994, Mr Ahern said: "Well, I will, but I'll do it in the Mahon tribunal."
Pressure mounted today as Opposition party leaders united in their call for Mr Ahern to explain himself to the public before voting begins on May 24th.
Green party leader Trevor Sargent accused the Taoiseach of hiding behind the tribunal and called on him to make a public statement about his financial affairs ahead of the election.
He said Mr Ahern had "many questions to answer" about his finances and said the adjournment of the Mahon tribunal yesterday "does not mean the Taoiseach is off the hook".
Mr Sargent said Mr Ahern owed it to the people "not to hide behind the tribunal" and said the public was "entitled to know what they are voting for".
"The peculiar nature of Bertie Ahern's financial arrangements demands an effort to clarify matters before the public cast their votes. That's the way a democracy should work," he said.
Sinn Féin added their voice to the chorus as Dublin Central candidate Mary Lou McDonald said the electorate had the right to know about all money accepted by the Taoiseach or his former partner and also called on Mr Ahern to make a public statement.
The calls came following the disclosure that Mr Ahern's former partner, Celia Larkin, received £30,000stg in December 1994 from Manchester-based businessman Michael Wall, which the Taoiseach said yesterday was used to pay for refurbishments and some stamp duty costs of his property off Griffith Avenue in Dublin.
Questioned at Croke Park yesterday morning, the Taoiseach said Ms Larkin had facilitated refurbishment work done on the property, then rented by Mr Ahern, on behalf of Mr Wall who owned the house.
The Taoiseach also confirmed that he spent IRL£50,000 on the refurbishment before he bought the house in 1997.
"Any money that Ms Larkin received was a stamp duty issue and it was towards refurbishing the house," Mr Ahern said without explaining further what the "stamp duty issue" was.
"It had nothing whatsoever to do with the allegation that I have to answer which is that Mr [Owen] O'Callaghan gave me money."
The Taoiseach added that the payment to Ms Larkin was "entirely appropriate". "She facilitated the work that he did on the house," Mr Ahern said.
Labour party leader Pat Rabbitte added his comments today to the growing disquiet at the Taoiseach's refusal to comment on the issue ahead of the election, saying: "I think stamp duty has got completely disproportionate coverage in the campaign so far, but I didn't know that it applied to rented houses."
He added that he was happy to let the Mahon tribunal investigate "the Taoiseach's byzantine financial affairs".
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said: "I hope that the Mahon tribunal in due course will have clarity and the answers to all these questions. But if there is confusion now perhaps the matter should be directed at the Taoiseach."
Progressive Democrats leader and Tánaiste Michael McDowell said this afternoon that he would not turn the election campaign into a mini tribunal on the Taoiseach's finances and added that he would be prepared to negotiate with Fianna Fáil and other parties with which it was ideologically compatible about forming a coalition if the PDs win enough seats on May 24th.
"The Taoiseach gave me a briefing on the material he supplied to the Mahon tribunal and I'm satisfied that over the last six months Ireland has been governed well," Mr McDowell said.