Fianna Fail's financial director believed that the anonymous donations mentioned in the party's cash receipts book were "truly anonymous" until he contacted Mr Sean Fleming TD about a query from the Flood tribunal.
Mr Hugh Dolan, a chartered accountant, told the Moriarty tribunal it was never his intention to withhold relevant information from the tribunal and that all Fianna Fail staff were instructed to co-operate.
He took over from Mr Fleming as Fianna Fail's financial controller in February 1998 following Mr Fleming's election to the Dail in 1997. Mr Fleming had responsibility for the 1997 accounts and Mr Dolan for the 1998 and subsequent accounts.
When the Flood tribunal made a query in March or April 2000 he contacted Mr Fleming who told him during the course of discussions that he knew the identity of the anonymous donors. Mr Fleming told him the list or extract was in a filing cabinet in his office. Mr Dolan said he found the extract in the filing cabinet, under a file.
Mr John Coughlan SC for the tribunal went through Mr Dolan's statement to the tribunal. Mr Dolan agreed that when he received a request from the tribunal in July 1999 seeking access to donations to Fianna Fail, he was unaware of any back-up documentation which could have identified donors or of how these entries could have been listed as anonymous.
On July 19th 1999 the Moriarty tribunal requested access to donations received by the party from 1979 to 1996. Its aim was to identify large donors to see if these donors gave money to funds operated by Mr Haughey.
Mr Dolan showed the cash receipts book, which had earlier been shown to the Flood tribunal at the party's headquarters. It recorded all funds raised by Fianna Fail. He agreed with Mr John Coughlan SC, for the tribunal that in late July or early August 1999 he contacted the party's general secretary, Mr Martin Macken, as well as Mr Des Richardson and Mr Fleming to update them on the request.
In March or April 2000, following a query from the Flood tribunal, Mr Dolan sought assistance from Mr Fleming. During those discussions Mr Fleming told him he knew the identity of those donors whose contributions were recorded as anonymous. Subsequently, Mr Fleming mentioned what was referred to as the "second list extract" and said it was in a filing cabinet in Mr Dolan's office.
Mr Dolan said he found the list in May 2000 in the filing cabinet. At the time, it did not particularly occur to him that it might have been of assistance to the Moriarty tribunal.
In June the Moriarty tribunal requested copies of Fianna Fail's 1989 records. Mr Dolan understood this to be the cash receipts book. That was when Mr Dolan raised the issue of the anonymous donations and asked if the tribunal solicitor was interested in them.
