The Taoiseach has been accused of inconsistency in his remarks about what he knew of donations given to Mr Ray Burke when he appointed him minister for foreign affairs in 1997.
Mr Ruairí Quinn claimed yesterday that, contrary to what Mr Ahern had stated on Tuesday, the Taoiseach had implied to the Dáil on May 28th, 1998, that he did not know about the payment of £30,000 to Mr Burke until Mr Burke's statement to the Dáil in September 1997.
"Dermot Ahern returned from London, at the Taoiseach's request, reporting that JMSE were denying making the donation.
"The Taoiseach told the Dáil on May 28th, 1998, again that 'we subsequently found out that was not the case'.
"So as late as June 24th, 1997 - the date of Dermot Ahern's return from London - the Taoiseach is claiming ignorance of the payment," said Mr Quinn. "Yet, the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, has told the Flood tribunal, and the Taoiseach now seeks to confirm it, that he told her the information before the Government was formed." Mr Quinn said the Taoiseach's "pathetic attempt" to put a construction on his own words in the Dáil, that no reasonable person could assume, were contradicted by other answers he had given during the question-and-answer session on May 28th, 1998.
"And, of course, the Taoiseach is making things worse for himself.
"If, as he now says, he knew about the donation, how could he appoint Mr Burke when the donation was being denied to Dermot Ahern, his emissary, by those purported to have given it?" Mr Quinn added.
He said that Ms Harney's protestations of innocence rang particularly hollow.
"The bottom line is that she did know then what we know now, but she chose to do next to nothing about it," he added.
"But the Taoiseach's desperate attempts to cover his own tracks are only making matters worse for him and revealing his complicity in the Burke affair."
