The Supreme Court decided yesterday that Mr Charles Haughey and family members should pay a legal bill of up to £500,000. It is the second significant financial blow for the former taoiseach since the start of the scandals surrounding his finances.
The court rejected an appeal from Mr Haughey and his family for the full costs of High Court and Supreme Court challenges they took against the Moriarty tribunal last year. Sources put the resulting bill facing Mr Haughey at up to £500,000. Mr Haughey has already paid large legal bills arising out of the 1997 McCracken tribunal, where he made no application for costs.
After yesterday's judgment, Mr Haughey and his family have to pay half their costs from the six-day High Court case they took, and all their costs from their Supreme Court appeal. In both hearings they were represented by three of the State's top barristers: Mr Colm Condon SC, Mr Eoin McGonigal SC and Mr Eamon Leahy SC.
Mr Haughey lost the High Court case but after proceedings taken by him, his wife Maureen, daughter Eimear Mulhearn, and sisters Maureen and Ethna Haughey, the Supreme Court in July last year quashed 36 orders of the Moriarty tribunal, giving it access to the bank accounts of Mr Haughey and members of his family.
Mr Haughey is amassing huge potential legal bills from his involvement in the Moriarty tribunal; an appeal the Revenue Commissioners are taking against the decision last December to reduce his tax bill arising from the Dunne payments to zero; and as a result of the criminal charges he is facing arising from his conduct before the McCracken tribunal.
The inability of the McCracken tribunal to make Mr Haughey pay some of its costs led to the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Amendment Act, 1997. The new law means tribunals can now order that some parties pay the cost of other parties.
No date has as yet been set for the Revenue appeal against the Haughey tax judgment, which will take place in the Circuit Court. A date is likely to be set later this month for the hearing in the Circuit Criminal Court of the charges against Mr Haughey in relation to the McCracken tribunal.
The tax assessment arising out of the Dunnes payments discovered by the McCracken tribunal is understood to have been close to £2 million. The McCracken tribunal discovered payments of £1.3 million approximately. The Moriarty tribunal is investigating further possible Dunne payments of £700,000 approximately.
It is also investigating other alleged payments to Mr Haughey, including £300,000 which Mr Patrick Gallagher has said in evidence he gave to Mr Haughey in 1980.