Fresh Lawlor jail sentence to be debated

Former Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor has moved a step closer to returning to jail.

The Payments and Planning Tribunal has today instructed him to provide a further statement to them by next Tuesday.

The inquiry will then decide whether Mr Lawlor should be sent back to the High Court for contempt of court hearings.

When Mr Lawlor finished his testimony today, after a break of 10 minutes following the close of session, the tribunal returned and it said it was not satisfied that Lawlor had co-operated fully with the tribunal in providing details about all his financial affairs.

The Tribunal has given Mr Lawlor until the close of business next Tuesday to provide further statements and it will then decide at 1030am on Thursday of next week.

The tribunal said it was not satisfied that Mr Lawlor was short of cash, due to his large property interests.

They also poured cold water over his assertion that he was unable to provide all the details required.

Mr Lawlor was grilled today about the contents of his sworn statements.

Barrister Des O'Neill for the Tribunal pushed Mr Lawlor to properly explain why some details were contained in one statement, but were not included in subsequent affidavits.

Under pressure from Barrister O'Neill, Mr Lawlor got irate, challenging O'Neill to get into the witness box himself in order to take questions from the former Fianna Fáil TD.

At that stage, Judge Alan Mahon interjected quickly to remind Mr Lawlor it was not his responsibility to question the legal team.