Labour TD Mr Pat Rabbitte has acknowledged receiving £2,000 offered as an election donation from Mr Frank Dunlop in 1992 but sending it back within weeks because he and his party at the time, Democratic Left, believed a conflict might arise.
Mr Rabbitte's account of the incident in a statement last night tallies closely with evidence given to the Flood tribunal on Tuesday by Mr Dunlop. He made the statement after rumours circulated in Leinster House that he was on a list of recipients of money supplied to the tribunal by Mr Dunlop.
While the revelation of the handover of cash is embarrassing for Mr Rabbitte and his party, there is no evidence of anything improper having occurred. Fianna Fail declined to comment last night. Mr Rabbitte became chairman of Dublin County Council seven months after the incident, and played a central role in guiding the final controversial Dublin draft development plan through the council.
Mr Rabbitte's identification of himself as among those listed by Mr Dunlop came as the Taoiseach offered yesterday to hold talks with the main party leaders on how to restore confidence in politics amid the welter of sleaze allegations.
Meanwhile, the Progressive Democrat Minister of State, Ms Liz O'Donnell, suggested her party had moved strongly towards supporting the banning of corporate donations.
Ms O'Donnell also said the "political dynamic" created by the stream of revelations could lead to members of the Oireachtas resigning their seats before any final report from the Flood tribunal.
"Mr Dunlop will be in a position to state that there was cause and effect in relation to monies" given to politicians, she said. If this was shown, "there will be serious sanctions to follow", and the stability of the Government was secondary to these considerations.
The Labour Party yesterday sought to claim leadership of moves to restore trust in politics, moving three Private Members' motions which provide for the extension of anti-corruption laws, the banning of corporate political donations, State funding of political parties and obliging public representatives to produce tax-clearance certificates.
While Mr Rabbitte's revelation distracted from Labour's move, the Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said last night that Mr Rabbitte and his then party "operated with the utmost integrity" regarding this matter.
Mr Dunlop, who named none of those to whom he gave money, said on Tuesday that payment number 23 on his list was an unsolicited £3,000 cash payment to a politician which was "readily accepted" but subsequently reimbursed by cheque.
Mr Rabbitte said last night he was the politician referred to, but the amount was £2,000. He said Mr Dunlop arrived at his house in November 1992, shortly before polling day. "He said his purpose was to make `a small contribution' to my election campaign on behalf of a number of clients."
Mr Dunlop was working on Fianna Fail's election campaign at party headquarters in a voluntary capacity at the time.
Mr Dunlop gave him £2,000 in cash, and Mr Rabbitte says he explained that his constituency officers and he would have to consider whether or not to accept the contribution, in line with standard procedure. He says he lodged the cash to his constituency party's bank account. He phoned Mr Dunlop after polling day and told him they could not accept the contribution, and that this view was shared by him and his party officers.
Mr Dunlop had never asked him to vote for Quarryvale nor did he raise any other planning matter, said Mr Rabbitte. He said he had voted against the Quarry vale rezoning and his and his party's record on contentious rezonings was on the public record.
Mr Ahern wrote to the main Dail party leaders yesterday offering to meet them, possibly before the weekend. A spokesman said later it was likely the Taoiseach would suggest either an ad-hoc inter-party committee or an existing Oireachtas committee should consider possible legislative changes to restore confidence in politics.
Adopting a conciliatory tone, Mr Ahern suggested the political parties should consider issues such as the lobbyists Bill also proposed by the Labour Party, corruption Bills proposed by the Government, Fine Gael and Lab our and other possible legislation.