Bertie Ahern's account of his personal finances has altered and become notably less specific in the various explanations he has provided to the Dá il, the media and the Mahon tribunal over the past few years. Paul Cullencompares the Taoiseach's statements over the course of the past 18 months
A £24,838.49 lodgement in October 1994 which included money from the first dig-out (the Manchester money) and the second dig-out organised by Dublin publican Dermot Carew
A report given to the tribunal on Ahern's behalf, April 2006"The lodgement was made up of £16,500 given by four friends, with the rest being the Irish punt equivalent of an unknown amount of sterling given to Mr Ahern in Manchester."
A report given to the tribunal on Ahern's behalf, April 2007Exactly the same explanation as a year earlier.
Interview with Bryan Dobson, RTÉ News, September 2006"There were others that wanted to assist at the time and later on in 1994; four of them gave me £16,500."
Dáil statement, October 3rd 2006"I do not know the exact amount of the sterling cash I received. However, I know that when I changed this money to Irish pounds, it came to £7,938.49. At the time I lodged this money into my account (on October 11th 1994), the sterling/punt exchange rate was 0.9883 (the sterling equivalent of Irish £7,938.49 was circa £7,845.61 sterling)."
Private interview, April 2007
Tribunal counsel: "Are you sure £16,500 was the Irish contribution [to the lodgement]?
Ahern: Yes.
Counsel: So whatever isn't represented by the £16,500 Irish is the sterling amount?
Ahern: Yes.
Counsel: You are certain of the fact that £16,500 was the Irish contribution?
Ahern: Yes.
Counsel: You can identify precisely?
Ahern: Dermot Carew definitely gave me that.
Tribunal evidence, September 13th 2007"[I was given what] I believe amounted to £16,500 . . . I did not count these monies . . . I cannot say with mathematical precision how much Irish cash was then lodged . . . It is likely the cash sum . . . was added to by other cash."
"I did not count these monies that were given to me by my friends. I accepted and thus I believed that the amount was £16,500, and that is what I have told that it amounted to. The sum of money was stored in the safe in St Luke's before being lodged.
"I cannot at this point in time state precisely how long it remained in the safe nor can I say with mathematical precision how much Irish cash was then lodged. It is likely that the cash sum in my safe was later added to my other cash that I used some of the accumulated cash for routine expenses."
Tribunal evidence, September 15th 2007"I certainly remembered, obviously remembered, the Carew funds and, to the best recollection of me and them, that comes to £16,500. I can't be certain that that's not £16,400. I can't be certain it's not £16,600."
The withdrawal of £50,000 cash on January 19th 1995. Bertie Ahern says this money was used to buy £30,000 sterling in cash in January 1995. The bank records suggest no such purchase of sterling
Private interview, April 2007"I think I probably changed about £30,000 . . . in my own bank to the best of my knowledge . . . O'Connell Street. The only two I ever deal with are O'Connell Street and then Drumcondra."
Tribunal evidence, September 13th 2007"I am clear that I purchased approximately £30,000 in early 1995 in order to give that money to Mick Wall."
Tribunal evidence, September 20th 2007"Whether I did that myself, or asked somebody to do that for me . . . whether I did it in instalments or whether I did it through the bank at all . . . it is very likely . . . I would have been out around the country and would have given it to someone else to do on my behalf."
Tribunal evidence, September 24th 2007"I think I must have given it to somebody to change for me because I think I would recall if I changed it myself. The only two banks I think I would have changed it in are Drumcondra and O'Connell Street. If I didn't change it there . . . I think it's more likely I would have given it to somebody to change for me."
Dáil confidence motion, September 26th 2007"I cannot be precise as to where and when and by whom the money was purchased. I continue, however, to make inquiries."
Lodgement of £28,772.90, December 5th 1994, to account opened by Celia Larkin (Ahern says it is circa £30,000, mostly sterling, given to him by businessman Michael Wall; the bank records suggest it could be $45,000)
Tribunal evidence, September 13th 2007"The tribunal lawyers have only reached a supposition of a $45,000 figure by applying wrong and notional exchange rates and by assuming that AIB bank officials breached standard banking procedures.
"The monies, chairman, Michael Wall gave me at that meeting were kept in my safe and, because I was travelling to Brussels on official business, were then lodged by Celia Larkin the following Monday, 5th December, 1994, to the relevant AIB account in O'Connell Street."
Dáil confidence motion, September 26th 2007"The money was a combination of sterling and punts. The monies lodged to the Celia Larkin account on December 5th 1994 belong to Michael Wall. They were applied in respect of works to the house at 44 Beresford. This was the house which he bought and he owned. The monies on deposit in that account were not my monies nor were they applied for my benefit. In so far as I and my lawyers are concerned, this was not an account in respect of which discovery applied."
£10,000 sterling lodged on June 19th 1995, £20,000 sterling lodged on December 1st 1995. Ahern says this is the £30,000 sterling, bought with some of the £50,000 cash, being relodged.
Dáil confidence motion, September 26th 2007"On foot of the publicity surrounding the illegal leaks of the manuscripts, I was contacted by a number of people. They recalled for me that I had in fact looked at houses in early 1995. This refreshed my memory that, in fact, at one stage I was not going to proceed with the deal with Michael Wall and, therefore, returned the money to him. Hence, the rationale for converting punts into £30,000 sterling.
Lodgement of £25,000 sterling on October 11th 1994
Tribunal evidence, September 13th 2007"The lodgement of the £25,000 sterling on 11th October 1994, it was not £25,000 sterling but it did include a sterling sum of about £8,000.
"At no stage have I ever asserted that the sterling portion of this lodgement was exactly £8,000. Hence calculations relating to this lodgement must be based on this sterling element not being exactly £8,000.
"I also make clear that the balance was an Irish currency sum. The sterling amount that was lodged when monies were raised at a dinner in Manchester, I did not count the exact amount of sterling so received, but the monies as so received were lodged to my account. There was also an Irish punt part of the lodgement."