The ACC bank informed the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, last week of a possible conflict of interest involving the Fine Gael TD, Mr Bernard Durkan, who is taking part in the Public Accounts Committee DIRT hearings.
The ACC reminded Mr McCreevy that some interest payments had been forfeited by the bank in 1991 in a voluntary settlement negotiated on behalf of Mr Durkan, The Irish Times has confirmed.
Mr McCreevy, a constituency colleague of Mr Durkan's in Kildare, acted as Mr Durkan's accountant in the negotiations at the time.
It is understood that Mr McCreevy immediately notified the chairman of the committee, Mr Jim Mitchell, of the ACC approach last week.
During the rigorous examination prior to the establishment of the PAC sub-committee to investigate the banks' treatment of DIRT, Mr Durkan told the PAC's lawyers about his dealings with the ACC.
Having heard the details of his financial settlement, the lawyers determined there was no conflict of interest involved in Mr Durkan's membership of the investigating team.
The ACC made no representations to the committee in relation to a possible conflict of interest involving Mr Durkan when the members were appointed a month ago.
Mr Durkan was not available for comment last night.
Mr Durkan was among the TDs who questioned ACC executives and former chairman Mr Dan McGing last week.
In exchanges with Mr Durkan the former chairman of the bank denied that the State bank had a "very loose attitude" to tax law and said there was rather a "sloppiness" in the way DIRT-liable accounts were maintained.
But Mr Durkan noted that irregularities had "kept recurring" and said that one ACC head-office official was apparently "disregarding the law completely". He wondered the extent to which alarm bells had sounded at the bank over the matter.
At another point, suggesting that an ACC tax adviser had information which he should have given to the Revenue Commissioners, Mr Durkan told him: "You must be a good poker player."
Contacted at his home last night, Mr Jim Mitchell, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said he would "not comment on the situation until I have checked it fully in the morning".
Asked if Mr Durkan might be asked to step down from the committee, he again declined to comment.
When The Irish Times put a number of other questions to Mr Mitchell about his knowledge of the matter he said: "How many times do I have to say no comment?"
According to a report in this morning's Irish Independent Mr Durkan's arrangements with the ACC involved a write-off of almost £20,000 in interest charges on two loans.
Born in Co Mayo in 1945 Mr Durkan was first elected to the Dail in 1981.
