Counsel for the tribunal Des O'Neill SC this morning resumed examination of the Taoiseach in relation to four large lodgements and one purchase of £30,000 sterling in 1994 and 1995.
The Taoiseach Mr Ahern arriving at Dublin Castle this morning for his third day before the Mahon tribunal. Photo: Irish Times.
Mr O'Neill put it to the Taoiseach that they were all "memorable" transactions in their own right.
In relation to the lodgement of £28,772.90 in December 1994, Mr Ahern insisted this was money given to him in sterling by businessman Michael Wall.
"He was not giving me the money for myself," Mr Ahern said. The sum of £30,000 sterling given to him by Mr Wall was to be spent on the house Mr Wall was buying in Drumcondra, the Taoiseach said.
Mr Ahern also told the tribunal that he did not believe the bank account in former partner Celia Larkin's name, into which the Michael Wall money was lodged, fell within the terms of an order by the tribunal to produce bank records he was asked for.
He said the only reason the account had not been opened in Mr Wall's name was solely because Mr Wall was in Manchester and would not have easy access to it to make withdrawals when it came to spending money on the house.
"It was not my money, it was not for my benefit so I wasn't hiding anything. Any question that ever came up, I answered."
Mr O'Neill put it to the Taoiseach that in his responses today he had "acknowledged a clear breach of your obligations" to discover [produce details of] an account in Ms Larkin's name.
Des O'Neill SC for the tribunal said: "I have to press you on this issue because it's significant. It's significant because it indicates the approach you were taking to the tribunal in response to its requests."
Mr Ahern said he had sat down with his legal team to establish what was required by the tribunal and "was totally conscious" that he should be "as comprehensive as we possibly could". He said that for that reason he had made reference to transfers of money made to accounts in Ms Larkin's name in the letter accompanying his affidavit of discovery.
He said he had produced all the information he believed he needed to after discussion with his legal team. This included information on over 22 accounts, he said.
Mr Ahern said he had no access to the bank statements for the accounts in Ms Larkin's name and that was why he had made "clear reference" to the fact that he had transferred money to those accounts in his letter.
"I would have been quite happy in my mind that I was discovering, in that particular letter, that I had transferred money over to Celia Larkin," he said.
Mr O'Neill is also taking Mr Ahern through information provided by his accountant Des Peelo in April 2006 explaining what he called the "money trail" of the various lodgements and withdrawals.
He put it to Mr Ahern that the account given at that time was "incomplete" given information that emerged later.
The report by Mr Peelo did not make clear that a lodgement of £19,142 lodged by Mr Ahern in December 1995 was a sterling amount of £20,000. Mr Ahern says this lodgement was what remained of the £50,000 given to Ms Larkin for the refurbishment of a house in Drumcondra.
Mr Ahern also says the £50,000 lodged to an account of Ms Larkin's in December 1994 and withdrawn in January 1995 was to be used by her to pay for expenditure on the house.
Mr Ahern said today the information he put together with Mr Peelo was intended to show the "money flow" through the accounts at that stage. He said Mr Peelo had not been trying to give a precise analysis of every transaction that happened.
Mr Ahern said the precise information was in the bank statements that had been given to the tribunal.
Today is Mr Ahern's third day of evidence to the tribunal.