Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern spent almost £34,000 on furnishing and renovating a house he was about to rent and without having any agreement covering the return of his expenditure, the Mahon tribunal heard today.
Mr Ahern said he withdrew £50,000 from his accounts to provide for expenditure on furnishings for the house and gave this money to his then partner Celia Larkin. He said he did not see the inside of the house until after it had been renovated.
The house on Beresford Avenue, Dublin, was bought for £138,000 by Manchester based businessman Micheal Wall in early 1995. Mr Wall put up money to pay for a new conservatory, Mr Ahern told Henry Murphy SC, for the tribunal.
Ms Larkin placed Mr Wall's and Mr Ahern's money into two separate accounts she opened in her name. Mr Wall's money was used to pay for work on the conservatory, a stamp duty bill, and for expenditure of £2,000 in Brown Thomas. A remaining amount of £9,684.71 was then transferred by Ms Larkin into a new account in June 1995.
Ms Larkin also lodged £11,743.74 into this account, which had come from Mr Ahern and which included £10,000 in sterling cash. In July a further £9,655 was lodged to the account, cash which Mr Ahern said came from his safe.
Mr Murphy asked why money from the two men was mixed. Mr Ahern said there was approximately £8,000 of Mr Wall's money left, and he was "sure we asked him did he want that back".
Mr Ahern said Mr Wall paid the Brown Thomas bill but he, Mr Ahern, paid for work on the attic and for painting work. "Celia was getting on with it. The two of us were spectators and we just let her get on with it."
Mr Murphy said there was a large difference between the £50,000 Mr Ahern said he withdrew in cash in January 1995 so it could be used on doing up the house, and the actual amount he spent on the house, £34,000. Mr Murphy asked if there was "any reality to the suggestion that [the withdrawal] was intended for a fit out?"
Mr Ahern said: "That's what it was for. It actually was for a fit out."
Judge Mary Faherty said Mr Ahern spent almost £34,000 on a house he was about to rent. She asked if there was any agreement with Mr Wall concerning how Mr Ahern could be recompensed if he ceased to be a tenant. "There was no agreement," Mr Ahern said. There wasn't a discussion on the matter.
Mr Ahern finished his evidence on his personal finances today.
