Those elected members of Fianna Fáil who withheld information from an internal inquiry into planning corruption six years ago or who "forgot" about donations they had received from lobbyists and developers should be disciplined. Yesterday's Dáil response by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to questions raised on the issue by Green Party leader Trevor Sargent was wholly inadequate.
It simply is not good enough for Mr Ahern to say he will await the findings of the Mahon tribunal into planning corruption before he takes any internal disciplinary action in the cases involving GV Wright TD and Senator Don Lydon. That wait-and-see approach was abandoned under public pressure when the late Liam Lawlor failed to co-operate with the party inquiry and the Flood tribunal. And Ray Burke was shown the door before he was formally found to have accepted about £200,000 in corrupt payments.
The Fianna Fáil Standards in Public Life Committee, which investigated planning matters six years ago, quoted the Taoiseach in the preamble to its report to the effect that "politics is about making difficult choices and giving leadership". Mr Ahern should live up to that challenge. He must show clearly by his actions that he and his party will not tolerate any wrongdoing. Even if the payments identified by the Mahon tribunal were not corrupt, the fact they were not disclosed to a special Fianna Fáil inquiry by the recipients raises serious issues for the Taoiseach and damages the standing of all politicians.
Senator Lydon admitted that he "forgot" to tell the former party chairman, Rory O'Hanlon, that he received £7,000 from a Dublin landowner in 1992. Mr Wright advised the party he had received £500 from the landowner when the real figure had been £5,000. Between 1991 and 1994, the Dublin North TD received at least £25,000. These were very considerable amounts of money in those days. Both men have insisted they were bona fide political donations and did not influence their votes on planning applications.
The special Fianna Fáil inquiry was established to discover whether any party member had breached their Code of Standards and, if they had, to subject them to "appropriate sanction". We now know, through their own admissions, that both Mr Lydon and Mr Wright misled the inquiry about the amount of money they received. That, in itself, does not constitute corrupt behaviour. But it warrants an immediate response. If the Taoiseach's protestations that he is determined to uphold the highest standards in public life are to mean anything, he must take action to reassure the electorate.