None of the Taoiseach's constituency staff can recall withdrawing £30,000 in sterling cash on his behalf, the tribunal has heard.
Bertie Ahern told the tribunal yesterday he now believes the withdrawal in early 1995 was made by someone else on his behalf.
Bank officials in AIB have said they have no evidence of a £30,000 sterling transaction at the time stated by Mr Ahern.
Des O'Neill SC, for the tribunal, pointed out that the average daily sterling withdrawal from the bank's O'Connell Street branch was just £2,000 in the first half of 1995. There was no sale of £30,000 sterling from O'Connell Street or the Drumcondra branch during this period.
He said Mr Ahern had originally indicated he had changed the money in early 1995 in his own bank.
Mr Ahern said he originally believed he had changed the money in O'Connell Street or Drumcondra but he hadn't checked this at the time he was interviewed by the tribunal in April because it didn't matter to him at the time. "I didn't think there was anything strange with me wanting to change my money and neither was I concerned about that," he said.
Last week, he said for the first time that it might have been changed for him by someone else or even taken out in instalments because he was travelling around the country at the time.
Mr O'Neill said the witness seemed to be saying he had no recollection of the incident and was saying a range of matters could have occurred, from buying it himself to getting someone else to do this, from getting it in his own branch to changing it in any branch throughout the country.
The Taoiseach said someone could have taken out the money for him and it could have occurred in a branch in his own area. He had made it clear to the tribunal that he wasn't certain.
Counsel asked how Mr Ahern might have intended to acquire the money in tranches when he was going to give it to businessman Michael Wall in one lot.
"I believe I must have given it to someone to change for me because I think I would have recalled if I did it myself," Mr Ahern stated. If he had done it himself, the only branches he would have called to were O'Connell Street and Drumcondra but it was "more likely" that he gave it to someone else to change. He was still checking to find out what had happened.
He agreed with Mr O'Neill that there were only a limited number of people to whom he would entrust £30,000. He had checked with people in his office and none could remember changing it.
Mr O'Neill asked whether the witness found it surprising that there was no support or documentation to help Mr Ahern establish when the transaction took place. This was a unique transaction for Mr Ahern yet he could not remember the detail. Mr Ahern said he was certain the transaction took place between January and Easter Sunday 1995. He did change the money; he had no other money to change.
Counsel pointed out that it would take weeks to amass the money if it were taken out in sums of £2,000. He claimed Mr Ahern had "gone back to the drawing board" on his initial claim to have withdrawn the money from AIB O'Connell Street after he saw the documentation showed there was no such purchase. Mr Ahern said he had told the tribunal in April that he did not recall the transaction.
Ahern and the £30,000
What the Taoiseach said about where and how he purchased £30,000 sterling in cash in early 1995.
In his interview with the tribunal in April:
I think I probably changed about £30,000 . . . in my own bank to the best of my knowledge . . . O'Connell Street. The only two I ever deal with are O'Connell Street and then Drumcondra.
Yesterday:
I think I must have given it to somebody to change for me because I think I would recall if I changed it myself. The only two banks I think I would have changed it in are Drumcondra and O'Connell Street.
If I didn't change it there . . . I think it's more likely I would have given it to somebody to change for me.
