Celtic Helicopters, the transport company part-owned by a son of former Taoiseach the late Charles Haughey, has paid the Revenue €689,945 to settle its outstanding tax liabilities.
Established in 1985 by Ciarán Haughey and his colleague John Barnicle, the company's affairs have featured in the work of two tribunals of inquiry. It was also the subject of an official examination by an authorised officer appointed by former Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Harney.
Celtic Helicopters offers business travel and aerial photography services, as well as pleasure trips, golf tours and transfers to race meetings.
The tax settlement made public yesterday in the Revenue's quarterly list of defaulters closes an audit case initiated by the tax authorities as far back as February 1998. The settlement comprises tax of €333,989 in respect of underdeclared VAT and €355,956 in interest and penalties.
In its most recently filed abridged accounts to the Companies Office, for the year to March 2005, Celtic Helicopters indicated that tax assessments by the Revenue were under appeal. "The directors believe that adequate provision has been made for all the company's taxation liabilities," said the accounts.
The report into Celtic Helicopters by authorised officer Gerry Ryan has never been published. It was completed in 2003, almost six years after Ms Harney appointed Mr Ryan on foot of the report of the McCracken tribunal.
The tribunal examined payments to Charles Haughey and the former Fine Gael minister Michael Lowry from the former head of Dunnes Stores, Ben Dunne. It noted that the supermarket company did a lot of business with the company from soon after its incorporation.
In October 1988, Mr Dunne gave Mr Haughey a cheque for £100,000 made payable to cash. The two men gave conflicting accounts of the background of the payment. Mr Justice McCracken believed Mr Dunne's story, that the payment was a bonus payment.
The report also outlined how on four occasions funds from the Ansbacher deposits were used to support debts incurred by Celtic Helicopters. In one case a loan of £150,000 was repaid with funds from the deposits.
The Moriarty (Payments to Politicians) Tribunal heard in 1999 that insurance broker Mr Mike Murphy had organised a £100,000 investment in the company in 1992. In that year, Mr Murphy helped the company raise a £92,000 loan so it could pay him for insurance and then proceeded to pay off the loan for the company. The tribunal was told that Celtic Helicopters subsequently paid back "most" of the money to Mr Murphy.
