Lawlor ordered to reveal details of spending

Former Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor is facing another day of tough questioning at the Planning Tribunal today.

Yesterday, Mr Lawlor was ordered to reveal details of his business and personal spending since the start of this year to prove his claims that he could not afford legal representation.

The tribunal said it wanted to see details of staff wages and other outgoings, travel expenses and credit card spending.

Mr Lawlor claimed yesterday that he had only spent around €15,000 so far this year.

He also claimed he could no longer afford to trawl through his records to produce documents requested by the tribunal

In evidence yesterday, property developer Michael Whelan said earlier evidence given by Mr Lawlor was totally untrue.

Mr Lawlor had claimed that £100,000 he received from Mr Whelan three years ago was a finder's fee for locating property in London, but Mr Whelan said it was actually part payment for an acre of land attached to Mr Lawlor's home in Lucan.

Tribunal chairman Alan Mahon subsequently warned Mr Lawlor about the consequences of misleading the inquiry.

The Dublin TD has already spent six weeks in prison for failing to co-operate with the Planning Tribunal, which is investigating alleged planning corruption in Dublin.