Fine Gael TD and Government Chief Whip Regina Doherty has moved to address debts related to the liquidation of her IT component sales company after she said she was subject to "politically motivated" attacks online.
Speaking on RTÉ's Saturday with Claire Byrne, Ms Doherty said because of her financial position at the time there were a number of outstanding debts when the firm, Enhanced Solutions, ceased trading in 2009.
Ms Doherty was director of the company, which was ultimately liquidated in 2011.
She said that because of guarantees in the company, she accumulated personal debts and "addressed those as best we could during the liquidation process", while Ms Doherty said she had taken out a loan with AIB to help with repayments.
Some of the firm's debts were written off during the liquidation process and she said she has been reminded "every single day" about the company.
Ms Doherty wrote a piece in today's Irish Independent about her financial troubles, including owing money to AIB as well as a settlement with Revenue following the failure of the company.
She said she has been subjected to "politically motivated" attacks online since the liquidation of the family-run business.
The Meath East TD said when she became Chief Whip of the new Government, "interaction went through the roof" and she could not ignore "people saying things that aren't true about me".
She said: "I've had to live with it every single day for the past number of years and people think they're funny reminding me of it."
Ms Doherty stated that, based on this, she took the choice to put everything that was in the public domain about her, in her own words for the written piece she authored.
She added that "in some sense I do feel guilty and responsible, and I don't think that will ever go away".
