Ministers out of line, says Ahern

MINISTERS will be warned about abusing their office for party political gain after Taoiseach Bertie Ahern yesterday admitted two of them had recently stepped out of line.

In a u-turn on his previous position, Mr Ahern was critical of both Minister for Education Noel Dempsey and Minister for Labour Affairs Frank Fahey for inappropriate use of departmental resources and breaking ethics guidelines.

Mr Dempsey put together confidential information packs for Fianna Fáil local election candidates using departmental material and Mr Fahey sent out invitations to a party fundraiser on official Department of Enterprise notepaper.