THE Tanaiste and Labour leader, Mr Spring, said it was wrong and imprudent to place Mr Niall Stokes in a position where he could be accused, however wrongly, of political favouritism.

His name should not have been on the correspondence promoting the race night or used to support any fund raising activities for the Labour Party. He was not a party member and should not have been put in a position where he appeared to be a party activist.

The motion sought to cast a slur on one of the most honourable and decent people ever to serve in government in Ireland. It also sought to bring into disrepute a contribution of a private citizen to a complex and sensitive area of public policy. In response to Dail questions last year, Mr Higgins told the House that Udaras na Gaeltachta had contributed £100 twice over the past three years to a fund raising event in Oughterard for the Progressive Democrats.

A well known party activist, Mr Gerard Danagher, had been appointed chairman of the Employment Appeals Tribunal in 1990, and while they were in Government with Fianna Fail, a former FF deputy, Mr Henry Abbot, was appointed to the Valuation Tribunal.

Mr Spring said the truth was that the motion was not about values. "It is merely about party political point scoring."

The "race night", the subject of the present controversy, was a modest success, raising £1,227. No radio licences were bought or sold that night, no favours were offered or taken.

Mr Stokes occupied an important position as chairman of the Independent Radio and Television Commission, whose decisions must be made impartially. "Nothing would bring local radio, or independent television, into disrepute more quickly than the charge that it had been allowed to be politically manipulated."