The Flood Tribunal has registered judgments for over €350,000 against Mr Liam Lawlor's home and property.
The former Fianna Fáil TD says he is "appalled" that five judgment mortgages against him arising from various High Court and Supreme Court bouts with the Flood Tribunal were filed in the Registry Office on Monday.
Mr Lawlor, who is abroad, said he was not aware of the move until contacted by The Irish Times. He said he is disputing the legal fees he is being charged and the case is still before the High Court Taxing Master.
"I think this is absolutely deplorable", said Mr Lawlor.
Mr Lawlor sold just over an acre of land adjoining his Lucan, Co Dublin house to a property company, Maplewood Developments Ltd, in December 2001, according to the Land Registry files. The matter was registered yesterday. "I have no comment to make on the matter," Mr Lawlor said.
Maplewood is part of a property development group belonging to Mr Michael Whelan which owns a substantial amount of land in the Lucan area.
Mr Lawlor and his family live in a large house, Somerton, which lies on two to three acres and has an adjoining folio of land of 5.6 acres. The judgments have been registered against both folios.
The judgments are understood to arise from a preliminary decision of the Taxing Master in relation to the clashes between Mr Lawlor and the tribunal. They reflect an initial decision as to the minimum Mr Lawlor will have to pay. A further amount, about €280,000, remains the subject of the ongoing dispute between the two sides.
The judgment mortgages mean Mr Lawlor cannot sell his property and get access to the proceeds without first settling with the tribunal.
The legal fees arise from cases taken by Mr Lawlor against the tribunal in relation to discovery orders and committal proceedings in 2000 and 2001. Mr Lawlor has been to prison three times and for a total of six weeks for not co-operating with the tribunal. He did not contest the recent general election.
Mr Lawlor's bill for his own legal expenses from the High Court and Supreme Court cases has been estimated to be about €500,000, bringing his total bill to more than €1 million.
He is also generating substantial legal bills arising from his attendances before the tribunal, though these may be paid by the tribunal. In December 2000 the tribunal heard that €5.9 million had been lodged to Mr Lawlor's accounts since 1983. The origin of more than half of this remained unexplained, according to the tribunal lawyers. Since then the tribunal has discovered further accounts.
