Ahern quizzed on source of lodgments

LODGMENTS up to three times greater than his salary were discovered in Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s personal deposit account with a building society during the early 1990s, the Mahon Tribunal heard yesterday.

Tribunal lawyer Des O’Neill put it to Mr Ahern these lodgments could not relate only to his salary, as the amounts were considerably in excess — by multiples of two and a half to three times — of his salary.

Mr Ahern said he had not had a bank account since the break-up of his marriage in 1987 until his separation was formalised, shortly before he opened the account with the Irish Permanent Building Society branch in Drumcondra in his own name on January 31, 1994.

The Taoiseach — who was facing his third, two-day tribunal session about his personal finances inside six months — had said the series of lodgments under the spotlight represented the proceeds of his salary cheques each month.

His first lodgment of £2,500 came from the proceeds of a £5,000 cheque, which Mr Ahern believed was “a personal political donation” but whose status he is unable to confirm at this stage.

He could not remember who gave it, but the individual in the company that gave the cheque and with whom he had dealings was dead.

The Taoiseach also said he received funds of £12,000 from family members in the 1990s.

His mother gave him a cheque for £7,000 which he lodged in March 1993, and his brother gave him a further £5,000, which he says may be a lodgment made in December 1995.

Earlier, Mr Ahern agreed with Mr O’Neill that a loan he took out with AIB in 1993 was not necessary because he had enough money in savings to pay a number of bills.

He also agreed his late solicitor Gerry Brennan was aware he had £54,000 in savings when Mr Brennan and former Fianna Fáil fundraiser Des Richardson arranged the £22,500 “dig-out” from friends.

Quizzed about the source of a £5,000 contribution from NCB Stockbrokers, part of the dig-out funds, the Taoiseach said he was told by Mr Brennan and Mr Richardson it was Padraic O’Connor’s personal money and Mr Ahern said he thanked Mr O’Connor for it. But tribunal counsel said they now knew this money had been raised through a company with which Mr Richardson was associated.

Mr O’Neill said a single £5,000 payment was a large amount and he understood Mr Ahern’s total expenditure for a general election at that time was £30,000. This prompted Mr Ahern to remark you would not get many £5,000 donations.

When Mr O’Neill asked if he would agree that you would not be taxed on political donations, Mr Ahern replied: “That is an argument we will finalise with Revenue in due course.”

Mr Ahern said he borrowed £19,115 to pay the legal fees of his former wife, a car loan she had and his own legal fees.

At the time, he kept the cash savings of £54,000 in two safes at his constituency and ministerial offices.

He said he wanted to keep his savings in the event of buying a new home following his marital separation.

Quizzed about the status of the £5,000 — half of which was lodged to his account in January 1994 — Mr Ahern said that from 1987 until 1995 he had earned about £270,000 to £280,000 net.

Those earnings didn’t appear in accounts — he had paid his bills out of them and had saved £54,000 over the period.

He was cashing his pay cheques. “I didn’t need total accounts; I wasn’t a company,” he protested.

When Mr Ahern said he had declared to Revenue gifts of money he had received, Mr O’Neill pointed out they were talking about events relating to 1994 while Mr Ahern had made contact with Revenue 12 years later in 2006.

Tribunal chairman Judge Alan Mahon told Mr Ahern there was a difference between a political donation — one given for the purpose of assisting him to discharge his constituency or political expenses — and gifts from friends.

Mr Ahern said when somebody gave him a donation for constituency use his practice was to give it to the constituency. Some individuals would say it was for your personal use and as any politician would do, you would spend it for political purposes.

Mr O’Neill said the implications of getting personal payments were that you were liable for gift tax or income tax. In neither instance in respect of two £5,000 sums he received had Mr Ahern paid either gift tax or income tax. Mr Ahern said this was correct.

Pressing Mr Ahern to state whether he had kept any records of the source of these monies, Mr O’Neill said any records he had were generated by banking institutions rather than any record he had made.

The Taoiseach said since he started as an accounts clerk in 1969 he had been under PAYE. He was not a company or sole trader, or a business.

Later, Mr Ahern was asked about a contribution of £5,000 made by Davy stockbrokers in 1992 and he said this related to the November general election and was lodged to the Fianna Fáil party account.

Under intense questioning, Mr Ahern said he remembered the £5,000 cheque came with a complimentary slip, signed by Robbie Kelleher, with the inscription “Best of luck in the elections”. It emerged there was no date on the complimentary slip.

Mr O’Neill said the payment was recorded in Davys as a political contribution but nobody in Davys could explain the circumstances.