OPPOSITION probing about the sworn evidence of the Taoiseach to the beef tribunal and the Dunnes payments tribunal is continuing amid calls that he should deal with the matter personally.
According to the former leader of the Progressive Democrats, Mr Des O'Malley, yesterday, Mr Bruton "continues to be conspicuous by his silence" and was now faced with two sets of contradictions.
Fianna Fail's law reform spokesman, Mr Willie O'Dea, claimed it was now "painfully obvious" that the Taoiseach had given two different versions of his involvement with Fine Gael fund-raising. Both accounts were given under oath "and both cannot be correct".
He called on Mr Bruton to give a full account to the Dail this week, clarifying the matter and answering questions. The Tanaiste, Mr Spring, should also indicate if he had sought "an explanation" from the Taoiseach. Silence would show that his "previous alleged adherence to high standards in public life was nothing more than a fig leaf of moral hypocrisy".
Mr O'Malley claimed that "firstly, Mr Bruton's sworn testimony at the two tribunals is in conflict". "Secondly, his purported explanation after his appearance at the McCracken tribunal has itself been contradicted by the documentary evidence provided in a Sunday newspaper this week".
Accusing Mr Bruton of refusing to answer Dail questions, Mr O'Malley said he was now so "packaged by his handlers" that he was inaccessible when asked to account for his "conflicting statements".