A former personal secretary to Mr Charles Haughey has differed with evidence he gave the tribunal concerning payments to the late Mr Brian Lenihan.
Ms Eileen Foy said she never gave any cash or cheques from the Fianna Fail party leader's fund to Mr Lenihan. She was responding to evidence given in private earlier this year by Mr Haughey concerning fundraising for Mr Lenihan which took place in 1991.
The bulk of the fundraising for the late Mr Lenihan took place in 1989 and the money was lodged to the party leader's account. Some additional fundraising was done in 1991, at Mr Haughey's suggestion.
Mr Haughey told the tribunal he recalled Ms Foy coming to him at some stage in 1990 and telling him the fund was empty. This occurred, he said, after Mr Lenihan had told Ms Foy he wanted to return to the US for a check-up and afterwards take a holiday in Florida. Ms Foy had then arranged money for Mr Lenihan and afterwards told Mr Haughey the fund was empty.
However, Ms Foy said she never provided funds directly to Mr Lenihan by way of cash, cheques or any other method.
Ms Foy agreed with Mr John Coughlan SC, for the tribunal, that she had no reason to believe Mr Lenihan had been given cash from the fund. It was only "total speculation" on her part to suggest that he might have.
Ms Foy said her solicitors had been contacted by Mr Haug hey's solicitors prior to her 1999 appearance before the tribunal. Mr Haughey had wanted to discuss matters with her and had read her a statement of intended evidence. The meeting did not take place.
She met Mr Haughey around Christmas 1999 and Christmas 2000. On both occasions she discussed the tribunal with him. She met him and Mr Paul Kavanagh in January 2000 and again discussed the tribunal.
She was asked by Mr Cough lan about evidence Mr Haughey gave concerning the use of his home, Abbeville, for party purposes. He asked if she had any recollection of keeping account of money Mr Haughey might be owed from the party leader's account, or money he might owe to the account. Ms Foy said she didn't but had no doubt she did keep account of such matters.
Asked how Mr Haughey had paid when he owed money to the account, Ms Foy said she couldn't remember.
Ms Foy disagreed with Mr Haughey's evidence about her appearance before the tribunal in 1999. When she discussed her evidence with Mr Haughey, she had said she had found it confusing dealing with the various cheques and transactions she'd been asked to deal with.
Mr Haughey has said in evidence that Ms Foy told him afterwards that she'd been confused in the witness box when dealing with the contents of a 1998 meeting she'd had with him. Mr Haughey said he had asked her to inform the tribunal of this. Ms Foy said she couldn't remember him saying this.