Former Fianna Fáil minister Mr Ray Burke today told the Flood tribunal he broke the law when he took £15,000 sterling into the State without seeking Central Bank permission.
Under exchange control laws introduced in 1978 a person seeking to move money in and out of the State must first apply to the Central Bank.
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Mr Ray Burke
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Mr Burke was responding to questions by Mr Pat Hanratty SC for the tribunal over a sum of £15,000 sterling which he withdrew from his Hill Samuel bank account on Wood Street in London in 1985.
Mr Burke said he had withdrawn the money and brought it back to Ireland and then some days later travelled to Jersey where he gave the money to his solicitors Bedell and Cristin.
They then deposited the money into his Hill Samuel bank account in Jersey, he said.
Mr Hanratty asked Mr Burke why he ran the gauntlet of breaking the exchange control regulations if the monies were legitimate political donations for legitimate political purposes.
Mr Burke responded: "That's the way I did it. The funds were raised overseas and I felt they should be kept overseas."
Mr Burke was also questioned about withdrawals and lodgments to accounts in 1994 and 1995. Mr Burke explained that in July 1994 he withdrew all the money left in the Hill Samuel account in Jersey, which amounted to over £31,000 sterling.
After depositing money into two Nationwide accounts in Ireland Mr Burke was left with £20,000 sterling which he kept in his house until he deposited a sum of IR£20,000 in the Ulster Bank on January 3rd 1995.
Mr Hanratty asked Mr Burke had he calculated the exact amount of sterling to bring with him to the Ulster Bank so that an exact lodgment of IR£20,000 could be made.
Mr Burke responded by saying: "The amount lodged was £20,000 and that was it."
He said under express recollection he would have assumed that he would have benefited by the sterling/punt exchange rate.
Mr Hanratty asked Mr Burke did he not think it inappropriate for a legislator of the State to be breaking the law by holding offshore accounts.
Mr Burke said he did not realise at the time that he was breaking any laws and added: "I hold my hand up. I did not apply in the correct way for these accounts."
Mr Hanratty put it to Mr Burke that over recent years it has become clear that a portion of the Irish population was using offshore accounts to avoid paying tax.
Mr Burke said he had no reason to avoid paying tax as the money in those accounts was for legitimate political purposes.
"Tax evasion just does not come into it," Mr Burke said.