Background: Findings of the €3.2 million, six-year inquiry into accounting irregularities bring chapter of Dunnes saga to a close, writes Colm Keena

Some time in 1987 and probably close enough to the time Mr Charles Haughey returned to the office of Taoiseach, two accountants had a conversation concerning Mr Haughey and money.

The late Mr Des Traynor telephoned Mr Noel Fox. Mr Traynor was a former partner with Haughey Boland, which later became part of Deloitte & Touche. Mr Fox was a partner with Oliver Freaney, a close adviser to Mr Ben Dunne, and a member of the Dunnes trust.

Mr Traynor said Mr Haughey needed money. Mr Fox said he would convey the request to Mr Dunne. Mr Traynor was trying to organise a whip around but Mr Dunne decided he would personally give Mr Haughey the money he needed. Mr Fox conveyed this information back to Mr Traynor.

During 1987, two cheques for more than £500,000 were issued by Dunnes Stores Bangor on behalf of Dunnes Stores Ireland Ltd, the flagship Dunnes company. The money eventually found its way to Mr Haughey.

When, over the following few years, Mr Fox's colleagues in the auditing end of Oliver Freaney were trying to sign off on the 1987 accounts, they couldn't find an explanation for the two cheques. The cheques had been authorised by Mr Dunne and sent to Mr Fox.

When Mr Fox was asked about them by his audit colleagues, he told them he knew nothing about them. This occurred on a number of occasions. Mr Fox told the Moriarty tribunal that he never worried about the amounts as he had every faith that Mr Dunne would eventually repay it to Dunnes Stores.

Mr Michael Irwin was the chief accountant with the Dunnes group back in the early 1990s. Mr Michael Lowry's company, Garuda Ltd, was carrying out refrigeration work for the Dunnes group and, at some stage, he told Mr Irwin that he had bought a new home in Co Tipperary. Mr Lowry sought advice about builders and Mr Irwin recommended Faxhill Homes Ltd, a company that had done work on Mr Dunne's home.

What happened next was that Mr Irwin learned that invoices for work on Mr Lowry's home were being sent to the Dunnes group. He was told Mr Dunne had authorised this.

Mr Irwin told the McCracken tribunal in 1997, when this payment was investigated by it, that he had opposed this method of payment by Mr Dunne to Mr Lowry. He said the way the money was paid made it possible for Mr Lowry to avoid paying tax.

He said that when he raised the matter with Mr Dunne, Mr Dunne said he understood what Mr Irwin was saying, but he wanted the money paid in this way.

The above are just two of the issues heard by the McCracken tribunal which had obvious implications for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. The institute is charged with regulating its members.

In September 1997, it established an independent committee to inquire into matters arising from the McCracken Report. The members of the committee were: Mr Justice John Blayney, former Judge of the Supreme Court; Mr Brian Duncan; and Mr Paddy Shorthall.

The committee held its proceedings in private.

It completed its report in May 2000. Certain of its findings were appealed and an Appeal Committee was established. Its members were: Mr Hugh Kennedy QC, Mr John Hennessy, and Mr Maurice Tempany. The findings of both committees have now been published.

The committees have three levels of negative findings available to them. They are admonishment, reprimand, and censure. The committees could also refer individuals to the institute's disciplinary committee, which in turn could remove a member's licence to practice. There were no such referrals.

The chief executive of the institute, Mr Brian Walsh, has said that the adverse findings of the committees are "very serious" for those concerned.

However the two firm's affected by the findings, Deloitte & Touche and Oliver Freaney & Co, have intimated that their view is that not much has been found against them.

It is likely that most members of the public will wonder how such a process could take six years to complete at a cost of approximately €3.2 million.