Former Fianna Fáil TD Mr Liam Lawlor failed to declare on the Dáil register his interest in five property-owning companies, the tribunal has heard.
Mr Lawlor gave various reasons for not disclosing his interest in the companies on the Dáil's Register of Members' Interests.
He said he was unaware of the names of the companies. In some cases, he did not have a shareholding in the land but owned part of the "underground infrastructure" - pipework - that passed through it. In other cases, his interest was discharged by way of a loan, he said.
When he gave evidence to the tribunal in December 2000, Mr Lawlor denied owning any land in Ireland apart from his house, Somerton.
However, the solicitor Mr Noel Smyth subsequently provided the tribunal with a letter dated March 1997 which links Mr Lawlor to five property companies.
Yesterday, Mr Lawlor at first denied that Mr Smyth ever acted as his solicitor, but later accepted he had.
The companies mentioned in the letter are Cara Ltd, Sabre Ltd, Pentagon Property Services Ltd, Kenlin Developments Ltd and an unnamed services company which owns the foul sewers at Newcastle Road, Lucan (later named as Valley Holdings).
The letter, which is addressed to the financial lawyer Mr John Caldwell, also identifies Mr Caldwell as the politician's partner in these ventures. For many years, Mr Lawlor denied any business dealings with Mr Caldwell.
Mr Des O'Neill SC, for the tribunal, said the letter showed that Mr Lawlor's evidence to the tribunal in 2000 was incorrect.
The witness disagreed. He wasn't in a position to identify the companies because he didn't know their names.
Mr Lawlor failed to disclose any of these interests in the Dáil register in 2000, and declared just one indirectly in 2001. In this latter case, he declared a 50 per cent interest in Clearview Ltd, which in turn owns 50 per cent of Pentagon Property Services, the offshore company that owns the pipework in Lucan.
Mr O'Neill pointed out that Mr Lawlor had been involved in High Court proceedings in relation to this land, which he sold in 1995. During these proceedings, it was pointed out that Mr Lawlor had not listed his claimed interest in the Dáil register.
He subsequently amended this record.
Earlier, Mr Lawlor admitted that no tax has been paid on a £100,000 sterling under-the-counter payment he received for the sale of land two years ago.
However, he said the matter is being dealt with at the moment in negotiations with the Revenue Commissioners. The "totality" of his finances going back a number of years was being dealt with by his accountants together with the Revenue.
Judge Alan Mahon said he had earlier described this transaction, in which the money was paid out in London, moved to Gibraltar and then moved back to Ireland, as money-laundering. But he noted Mr Lawlor's contention that it was not laundering, because the money had come back into the jurisdiction and he had paid tax on it.
He asked Mr Lawlor to explain the tax situation.
Mr Lawlor said his accountant had all the details. He was "in the process of" dealing with the Revenue. The matter was being finalised.
Judge Mahon said that, had the matter been dealt with properly in the first place, Mr Lawlor would have had to pay Capital Gains Tax. By moving the money around he had avoided or evaded tax.
Mr Lawlor said tax issues were not a consideration in the transaction. It was not his intention not to pay tax. He ended paying more, not less, tax.
Asked why he put the money through the UK, Mr Lawlor said this was because the purchaser, Mr Michael Whelan of Maplewood Homes, insisted on this.
