Tom Gilmartin, denies money was personal donation
The Taoiseach has read the reply he received from, Mr. Pádraig Flynn about the controversy into the Dáil record. The reply from Mr. Flynn followed the Dáil motion asking the Commissioner to make a public statement over allegations that he received the fifty thousand pounds from the Luton-based property developer Tom Gilmartin.
Mr. Flynn said that the reason he has not commented on allegations that he received money from Mr. Gilmartin is that the Tribunal representatives had asked him not to comment in any way on his evidence to the Flood Tribunal.
The Taoiseach said that this letter went some way to explaining Mr. Flynn's position, but that he would have been happier if the letter had been sent earlier. The Taoiseach also told the Dáil that he had no plans to meet Mr Flynn when he visits Brussels tomorrow.
Mr. Gilmartin has told RTÉ news that the £50,000 he gave to Pádraig Flynn was a political donation for Fianna Fáil. Yesterday, a Dublin newspaper claimed that the European Union commissioner had told the Flood Tribunal that he had received the money, at his ministerial office at the Department of the Environment in 1989, as a personal donation from Mr Gilmartin.
This morning, Mr Gilmartin said that this was not correct. He also said that when the EU commissioner contacted him last September by phone, Mr. Flynn was trying to "enlighten" him as to what to say to the Flood Tribunal. However, Mr. Gilmartin says that he made it clear to Mr. Flynn that he was not about to change his story.
