BUSINESSMAN DENIS O’Brien has said he has settled an outstanding bill for over €600,000 with the Moriarty tribunal.
In a report into the Mahon, Moriarty and Morris tribunals published on Thursday, the Comptroller and Auditor General had said €610,831 was owed by Mr O’Brien on foot of unsuccessful judicial reviews taken by him in 2004 and 2006. The report said interest at a rate of 8 per cent was running on the sum since June 2008, when certificates of taxation had been issued.
A spokesman for Mr O’Brien said yesterday the outstanding money had been paid to the Moriarty tribunal. He emphasised the matter had been settled before the publication of the CAG report.
A spokesman for the Department of the Taoiseach confirmed Mr O’Brien’s bill had been paid.
The Moriarty tribunal was established in September 1997 by then taoiseach Bertie Ahern to examine payments to politicians and related matters.
Four legal challenges were taken against it, one by the late Charles Haughey, who challenged the constitutionality of the Tribunals of Inquiry Acts in both the High Court and the Supreme Court.
Businessman Dermot Desmond took judicial review proceedings against the tribunal in 2003. Between 2004 and 2006, Mr O’Brien took two judicial review proceedings. CAG John Buckley said yesterday the extended timescale of the tribunal was in part attributable to legal challenges.
