Lawlor ‘spends over 200,000 a year’

FORMER Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor, who claims he cannot afford to pay a stg£10,000 legal bill, has an annual expenditure of over €200,000.

Yesterday the planning tribunal urged the retired politician to “get on a plane” to London to obtain vital documents to assist the inquiry after it established he still has large financial resources, including stg£50,000 in an offshore account.

The former TD has repeatedly claimed that financial difficulties caused by his involvement with the tribunal have prevented him from paying overseas solicitors to release documents sought by the inquiry.

However, the tribunal heard evidence yesterday that Mr Lawlor transferred almost €320,000 to his bank account in Lucan from offshore funds in 2002, while he also had an estimated annual expenditure of around €200,000.

The tribunal chairman, Judge Alan Mahon said it was clear Mr Lawlor had “more than ample funds” to pay for the release of the documentation.

Mr Lawlor has maintained a number of overseas legal firms are demanding a combined figure of around stg£40,000 before agreeing to release documents to him which the tribunal is seeking as part of its investigation into alleged planning corruption.

Among the solicitor practices is Seddon’s of London, whose notepaper was used by Mr Lawlor to disguise an under-the-counter payment of stg£100,000 related to sale of his property in Lucan in 2000. According to Mr Lawlor, Seddon’s are looking for stg£10,000 to provide the necessary files.

Asked by tribunal member Judge Gerald Keys if he would get stg£10,000 to obtain the files as requested, Mr Lawlor replied: “I’ll give it every consideration.”

From financial records provided by Mr Lawlor overnight, the tribunal estimated the former Dublin West TD has an annual expenditure of around €200,000. He was also criticised for telling the tribunal on Thursday he had monthly outgoings of around €3,000 when the true figure was over €12,000. Mr Lawlor, who retired from politics last year, is in receipt of a Dáil pension and also received a once-off severance payment of €112,000 from the Oireachtas.

The tribunal has heard evidence that Mr Lawlor has stg£50,000 in an account administered by a Gibraltar legal firm. It has also learnt that a further €317,000 was transferred from this account to the Ulster Bank in Lucan during 2002.

However, Mr Lawlor complained it was misleading for the tribunal to create the impression he had money readily available.

Following consultation with Seddon’s over lunch, Mr Lawlor offered to travel to London next week to see what documents he could obtain for the tribunal.

The former TD remains under threat of a further jail sentence amid claims he is still failing to produce all relevant documents in relation to his business dealings. He is due to resume evidence on Tuesday.