The Opposition has expressed concern over new evidence emerging from the Mahon tribunal that appears to show large sums of sterling were lodged to a building society account that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has previously said was used to lodge salary cheques.
Fine Gael called on Mr Ahern to address new issues raised after his former secretary Gráinne Carruth today told the inquiry she now accepts she lodged sterling on behalf of the Fianna Fáil leader.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the evidence emerging had "further undermined" Mr Ahern's credibility. He called on Tánaiste Brian Cowen and other senior Fianna Fáil figures to put "loyalty to the country ahead of loyalty to their damaged party leader".
Ms Carruth told the tribunal today she had to accept, following her dealings with the tribunal yesterday, that "as a matter of probability" she had lodged sterling to an account at the Irish Permanent building society on behalf of Mr Ahern in 1994.
"I have no memory of sterling, but with the papers that have come before me, it equates that sterling transactions did happen," Ms Carruth told the tribunal today.
Examined by tribunal counsel Des O'Neill SC, she said she did not believe she had ever told an "untruth" to the tribunal. "I believe I tried to be as honest as I could at all times," she said.
In a private interview with the tribunal in July 2006, Ms Carruth said she had only been involved in lodging Mr Ahern's salary cheques.
Evidence of a series of sterling cash lodgements to Mr Ahern's building society account in 1994 was given yesterday by Blair Hughes, a former manager of the building society branch in Drumcondra. This conflicted with testimony given to the tribunal by the Taoiseach last month, when he said the lodgements were salary cheques.
Mr Hughes, told the tribunal yesterday that the documents created at the time of the transactions indicated the lodgements originated from the exchange of sterling immediately beforehand.
The records indicate the lodgements were made by Ms Carruth, who worked at Mr Ahern's office in St Luke's, Drumcondra, from 1987 to 1999.
The total involved was £15,500 sterling and the branch records indicate the sterling was cash. The bulk of the money was lodged to Mr Ahern's account although some was also lodged to two accounts belonging to his daughters at the same branch.
Tribunal chairman, Judge Alan Mahon, noted that Mr Ahern's counsel did not challenge yesterday's evidence. Colm Ó hOisin SC, for Mr Ahern, said he wanted to reserve his position as he had not been able to consult with his client, who had been out of the State.
Mr Gilmore said in a statement today that the tribunal hearings "raise yet more issues of profound seriousness for the Taoiseach".
"We now know that far from being on his financial uppers in the early 1990s, Mr Ahern's myriad of accounts in various financial institutions were awash with money. It now also seems beyond dispute that, despite repeated denials by Mr Ahern, a number of lodgements to his accounts were in sterling.
"It is now time for Brian Cowen and other senior figures to put loyalty to the country ahead of loyalty to their damaged party leader; it is time to bring this sorry saga to a conclusion, so that the Government and the Dáil can now concentrate on dealing with the huge social and economic problems facing us."
Fine Gael's Fergus O'Dowd said the conflicting the questions raised by the evidence yesterday and today must now be "addressed truthfully" by Mr Ahern.
"At a time when crime is rife on our streets, prices and unemployment are rising and tax revenue and house prices are falling, Mr Ahern's crumbling credibility and inability to deal properly with the issues raised at the tribunal is distracting the Government and damaging its capacity to act," Mr O'Dowd said in a statement.