Dunne’s £23m ‘mental blackout’ over tax write-off

THE meeting with Revenue saved Ben Dunne’s family £23 million - but he says he can’t remember it.

Charles Haughey arranged for Dunne to meet the chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, Seamus Paircéir shortly before Dunne gave the then Taoiseach a gift of stg£282,500 - but Mr Dunne says he has no explanation why Haughey intervened. In all, Mr Dunne had three meetings with Mr Paircéir in 1987. At the end of these his family was £23m (€29.2m) richer in reduced tax bills - but he said he had no recollection of any of these meetings. Even Mr Dunne admitted this was “incredible”.

The tribunal was set up to investigate whether Mr Haughey gave political favours in return for cash. It has uncovered payments totalling £1.9m (€2.4m) from Mr Dunne to the former Fianna Fáil leader between 1987 and 1993.

It is still seeking to discover whether Mr Haughey gave any favours in return.

Yesterday, Mr Dunne didn’t shed any light on the question as the former supermarket owner claimed a “mental blackout” when it came to the meetings he had with both Mr Paircéir and his successor Philip Curran.

“It is a source of a lot of irritation that I don’t recall it,” he said. “It’s like as if a mental blackout in my brain.”

However, Mr Dunne was able to say that he did not believe he ever discussed the tax affairs of Dunnes Stores with the former Taoiseach.

He firmly rejected suggestions that the reason he had no memory of meeting the Revenue’s top official was because it contradicted evidence he gave in 1997 to the McCracken Tribunal.

Mr Dunne denied that his failure to inform the McCracken inquiry about his meeting with Mr Paircéir was designed to hide a series of gifts to Mr Haughey.

“I am saying today that I completely forgot about it,” he said.

Mr Dunne insisted that he had not colluded with accountant Noel Fox to conceal details of these meeting from the McCracken Tribunal. “I don’t tell lies under oath. I don’t tell lies basically,” he remarked.

Mr Dunne said he did not believe he would have known the former Taoiseach well enough in March 1987 to have asked him to arrange a meeting with Mr Paircéir.

Tribunal barrister John Coughlan SC pointed out that Mr Dunne had already paid six cheques worth £32,200 to Mr Haughey two months earlier as well the stg£282,500 payment in May 1987.