THE former Taoiseach, Mr Haughey, is unlikely to appear before the Dunnes payments tribunal this week.
The tribunal resumes at 10.30 a.m. today with legal argument concerning the contents of the memorandum Mr Ben Dunne's solicitor, Mr Noel Smyth, sent to himself about meetings he had with Mr Haughey relating to the tribunal. Mr Haughey has received a copy.
Before it was adjourned last April for the election campaign, and to allow investigations in the Cayman Islands, Mr Smyth told the tribunal about five meetings he had had with the former Taoiseach at Mr Haughey's request.
Mr Smyth said that while he was not Mr Haughey's solicitor, he thought Mr Haughey believed their conversations were covered by privilege, and were therefore confidential, because he was a solicitor. He would only divulge their contents if instructed to do so by the tribunal.
Legal arguments about whether these conversations are covered by privilege will be teased out today. Earlier it was thought that if the tribunal found they were not, and instructed Mr Smyth to give this evidence, lawyers for Mr Haughey would appeal this decision to the High Court. Last week, however, they indicated they would accept the decision of the tribunal.
If the decision is that Mr Smyth should give this evidence, then it will start immediately, probably tomorrow. It will take at least a day.
If the tribunal finds the conversations are covered by privilege, it will call the next witness, Mr Padraig Collery, an associate of Mr Des Traynor in the Guinness & Mahon merchant bank.
He was involved with Mr Traynor in managing the "Ansbacher deposits", the money in accounts in the Cayman islands out of which Mr Haughey's living expenses were paid by Mr Traynor.
Mr Traynor died in May 1994. Mr Collery now works in Kindle Banking Systems in Baggot Street, Dublin.
According to evidence given last week he, with Mr Traynor, kept coded records of the owners of the Cayman Islands accounts and of the transactions in them.
Other bankers with knowledge of those accounts are also likely to be called. This evidence will give an insight into how the tribunal lawyers followed the money trail, which led from Mr Ben Dunne to Mr Haughey, and drew from Mr Haughey the admission that the Pounds 1.3 million paid by Mr Dunne "probably" ended up in his accounts, although he was unaware of it at the time.
Mr Dunne is likely to be recalled to clarify some of his evidence.
Mr Haughey is then the next witness, but if the tribunal rules that Mr Smyth's evidence should be heard, and allowing at least two days for the bankers, he is unlikely to appear before the end of the week at the earliest, and most likely will be called at the beginning of next week.
The tribunal expects to finish taking evidence in three weeks. Lawyers for the tribune have indicated that if they have not heard all the evidence by then they will adjourn for some of the summer recess to prepare for their appeal of the Cayman Islands decision that they could not have access to bank records there, and to take some holidays.