The High Court confirmed yesterday it had received payment of a £5,000 fine imposed on the Dublin West TD, Liam Lawlor.
It had been reported that Lawlor, who is currently serving his second one-week prison sentence for failing to supply information sought by the Flood tribunal, had failed to pay the fine, the deadline for payment having expired on December 31st.
After that date interest would have applied for a short period on an unpaid fine, but under High Court rules, he faced serving another month in prison if the fine was not paid by January 17th.
However, a spokesman for the High Court said that payment had been received.
He said the cheque had been mistakenly sent to the Chief State Solicitor's office, and that explained why it was three days late.
"It seems to have been a genuine mistake," he added. As to whether interest would be charged on days where the money was overdue, he said that had yet to be decided. In any case, it would be minimal, he said.
Lawlor's constituency office said there was "no basis for the recent media coverage and speculation that the fine was not correctly discharged, as directed by the High Court and Supreme Court."
It said a cheque for £5,000 was issued by Lawlor's solicitors and sent to the relevant authority on December 19th in accordance with the fine imposed by the courts.
The statement contained a copy of a letter from the Chief State Solicitor's office addressed to Lawlor's solicitor, Mr Dermot Coyne, which confirmed that the letter had been sent to the wrong address and that it would be forwarded to the High Court after the holiday period.
A spokeswoman for Lawlor said the TD had at all times respected and endeavoured to fully comply with the decisions of courts.
Meanwhile, a Czech woman owed over €1,200 by Liam Lawlor has called on the Dublin West TD to pay her the money that he owes her.
The money relates to phone bills left unpaid by Lawlor's former property company in the Czech Republic, the Irish Consortium.
In December 2000 Lawlor told The Irish Times he would pay the bills "early in the new year", but the money is still outstanding.
"I have an elderly mother sick with diabetes and I have no work. I haven't enough money to buy proper food," said Ms Miroslava Nezvalová (49), the woman who sublet her apartment to Lawlor and his business associates.
Ms Nezvalová used her savings and borrowed from family and friends to pay the phone bills, totalling 40,000 Czech koruna (€1,260), and says she is still in debt as a result.
She is now living on monthly social welfare payments of 3,400 koruna (€107). The money owed would be the equivalent of almost one year of social welfare cheques.
"Mr Lawlor knows that I paid the money," said Ms Nezvalová. "I am not very well off and I need the money. If I had as much money as Mr Lawlor, I would be a bit more generous with it."
