SF accuses Ahern of 'gutter politics'

SINN FÉIN has hit back at Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern over his Dáil comments about €250 million allegedly held by the party in US banks.

The party's justice spokesman, Aengus Ó Snodaigh, said the Minister had "engaged in the worst type of gutter politics, and used the privilege of the Dáil to repeat lies published in a Sunday newspaper".

On Wednesday, during his Dáil Budget speech, Mr Ahern said he had read that Sinn Féin had €250 million "stashed away" in US banks. "It hasn't been denied so I suppose it's true," he said, challenging the party to give the Government a "bit of a helping hand" by repatriating some of the funds.

Mr Ó Snodaigh said Sinn Féin was the only party to publish audited accounts annually.

"It is Sinn Féin that has been calling on the Government to publish legislation to compel political parties to publish their accounts, and it is Fianna Fáil who have rejected this.

"Where are Fianna Fáil's accounts? Why are they afraid to publish them? Who are the people who are filling the coffers of the Fianna Fáil party? Or should we look to who benefited most from the Budget?

"We won't take any lectures from a Minister in a Government that has just condemned the most vulnerable people in our society to pay for its economic incompetence."

Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghin Ó Caoláin also criticised the Minister, and said his comments were typical of his "tendency for gutter jibes" in the House.

He added that "this particular story is completely false and absolutely ludicrous".

During his Dáil contribution Mr Ó Snodaigh said that "aside from that nonsense" Mr Ahern had "precious little else to say for himself and his Government. He had nothing to say about the implications of the Budget for equality and human rights."

He said the move to fully integrate the Equality Authority and Human Rights Commission's facilities would "greatly dilute" the impact of these "independent watchdogs".

Mr Ó Snodaigh also said the prisons' budget would remain "unnecessarily high".

"If the Government had progressed the long-promised Enforcement of Fines Bill then spending on prisons could have been greatly reduced."