Building materials group CRH has not yet appeared before the High Court inspectorate chaired by Mr Justice Declan Costello, which is investigating the Ansbacher affair, its chief executive Mr Liam O'Mahony has said.

Speaking after yesterday's a.g.m., Mr O'Mahony said the group had not identified the eight directors in 1987 who were described in a High Court affidavit last September as beneficiaries of deposits with Ansbacher (Cayman) Ltd, the secretive bank alleged to have defrauded the Revenue Commissioners since the 1970s.

Mr O'Mahony acknowledged that eight of CRH's 15 directors in 1987 were alleged to have had a "banking relationship" with Ansbacher (Cayman) Ltd although he insisted there was "no suggestion they acted together".

Four current board members who were directors in 1987 had clarified their position and the company had no power to pursue the matter with its former board members, Mr O'Mahony said.

Of the current directors who were board members in 1987, CRH's outgoing chairman Mr Tony Barry has revealed that he had transferred "fully disclosed after-tax income" into Ansbacher or an associated company, Hamilton Ross, for the benefit of two of his adult children in 19891995.

Mr O'Mahony said yesterday: "There is no evidence whatsoever that CRH had any knowledge of banking activity in its business."

Responding to a shareholder, Mr Stanley Hope, Mr Barry said the group would meet the legal expenses of any full-time staff member who had appeared before the Moriarty tribunal or High Court inspectorate in connection with their CRH duties. The group would not meet legal expenses of former staff members called before the inquiries in connection with personal business.