The hearing of evidence concerning the personal finances of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will begin today barring a last-minute High Court challenge.
An AIB expert on foreign exchange transactions will begin giving evidence this afternoon after the chairman of the Mahon tribunal, Judge Alan Mahon, yesterday rejected a submission on Mr Ahern's behalf that the public hearings into his finances should be abandoned.
Last night, Mr Ahern, when asked if he would appeal the ruling, said: "I don't think so." He added: "No, that's not my intention . . . My legal guys' view was that they believed they had a strong point. I had to listen to the legal advice."
A source close to the Taoiseach said Mr Ahern had not yet consulted his lawyers. He also said an appeal against the decision was "unlikely".
AIB official John Garrett is expected to be asked about the bank's policies on the application of different foreign exchange rates for different types of transactions.
A lodgment made on Mr Ahern's behalf in December 1994 and which the tribunal has been told was a cash lodgment comprising substantial amounts of sterling conflicts with the bank's records which show no such sterling lodgment could have been made.
However, the amount lodged equals $45,000, exactly one of the dollar exchange rates in use on the day in question, though not when the appropriate rate is applied. Mr Ahern has said he was not involved in any dollar transactions.
On Thursday, Philip Murphy, the AIB official at the O'Connell Street branch in Dublin who dealt directly with Mr Ahern during the early 1990s, is to give evidence, and another colleague at the branch is to give evidence on Friday.
Mr Ahern's former partner Celia Larkin and Manchester-based businessman Michael Wall are to give evidence on Wednesday of next week. Mr Ahern is scheduled to give evidence on Thursday and Friday of next week. Judge Mahon yesterday rejected claims made on Mr Ahern's behalf that the tribunal did not have the jurisdiction to investigate Mr Ahern's financial affairs. He said the tribunal will proceed with taking Mr Ahern's evidence as scheduled.
The tribunal chairman also refused a request that Mr Ahern's evidence not be taken until the cross-examination of property developer Tom Gilmartin is completed.
The inquiry into Mr Ahern's finances was initiated because of Mr Gilmartin's claim that he was told by fellow developer Owen O'Callaghan that Mr O'Callaghan had made payments to Mr Ahern. Both Mr O'Callaghan and Mr Ahern have said Mr Gilmartin is incorrect.
Judge Mahon rejected any argument that the tribunal's inquiry into Mr Ahern's finances was disproportionate. He said the evidence concerning Mr Ahern to be heard over the coming two weeks would relate to "substantial cash transactions conducted in Irish currency and foreign currency which took place between October 1994 and December 1995".
The inquiry into Mr Ahern's finances was capable of being "ring fenced" and did not require the completion of Mr Gilmartin's evidence. He said Mr Gilmartin would not be allowed to cross-examine Mr Ahern until Mr Gilmartin had completed his evidence.
Judge Mahon also said that Mr Ahern would be asked to return at a later date to give evidence on other matters to do with the current Quarryvale module.