Former TD says FG's payments report inaccurate

A former Fine Gael junior minister has criticised her party's inquiry into payments to Dublin county councillors.

Mary Flaherty said she was horrified when the report published in 2000 found that just three party representatives had received payments of over £500 from developers. As she had received payments from £300 to £1,500 from Monarch Properties over seven elections, she knew this was inaccurate.

However, she took no steps with Fine Gael to set the record straight, she told the tribunal yesterday. Her financial records were incomplete and the matter was so "muddy and unclear".

Ms Flaherty said the error was not of her making. It was unclear what the body was inquiring into and she had asked for clarification before appearing before it. She was advised it was inquiring into payments received in return for favours so the question of what she got from political donors did not arise.

After the inaccurate report was published, Ms Flaherty contacted Monarch, which told her the payments were for about £500, she said. She decided to let the matter sit rather than go back to the party with a confused message. She agreed she made legitimate representations to party colleagues on the council after Monarch contacted her about its plans for a development at Cherrywood.

However, for ethical reasons, she refrained from discussing planning matters and concentrated instead on the company's good record on development in her area in Finglas. She did not disclose that she had received political support from Monarch as this would not have been important or appropriate.

A former Fianna Fáil councillor, James Barry, said Monarch gave him £1,000 in cash during the 1991 local election campaign. When it was pointed out that Monarch said all its payments were by cheque, Mr Barry said he could not be 100 per cent certain the money was paid in cash. The accounts of Monarch-linked companies show payments totalling £3,100 to a "Jim Barry" but he denied these related to him.