Mr Ray Burke has denied that 90 per cent of the money spent from deposits to his account during his political career, excluding his Dail salary, was used on personal expenditure.
Up to £500,000, partly from political donations and interest on them, passed through his bank account, with almost £120,000 remaining today, the tribunal heard.
Donations to charities, schools, community games and local sports clubs formed part of the political expenditure. Lunch in the Westbury Hotel and expenses for clothing were also political expenses. Mr Burke said entries for payments to the Dail bar related to drinks he bought for groups he had invited to Leinster House for tours.
Bills paid for ESB, oil and heating and phones related to both the running of Mr Burke's home in Swords and his constituency office, located in his home, he said. The office, with a waiting room, operated five days a week between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. and a secretary was employed at the office, Mr Burke said.
This was an example of how payments for political and personal expense were "intermingled", Mr Burke said. Cash withdrawals were spent on both personal and public expenditure and were used as "walking-around money", he added.
When asked if there were receipts for the payments, Mr Burke replied: "It's not the way it works."
Mr Patrick Hanratty SC, for the tribunal, put it to Mr Burke that no more than 10 per cent of the money spent was of a political character.
"I fundamentally disagree with that," Mr Burke replied.
Mr Hanratty said if expenses from the Dail bar and donations to charity were left out, more than 95 per cent "are obviously by definition ordinary expenditure which you can find on every current account".
Counsel for Mr Burke, Mr Aidan Walsh SC, said the tribunal should examine expenditure by all politicians to get an accurate picture of how politicians ran their finances.
Counsel for RTE challenged Mr Burke's assertion that the station had "massaged" figures for Century Radio's transmission charges.
Mr David Keane, for RTE, said Mr Burke had not mentioned the figures were massaged when in a memo he described charges agreed by RTE as "not unreasonable".