Friends of Bertie Ahern are said to have given €30,000 for legal fees, but tribunal inquiries go beyond this, writes Colm Keena
There is no necessary conflict between the amount of money this newspaper has said the Mahon tribunal is investigating in relation to the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and the amounts which have been quoted by sources close to Mr Ahern.
The Irish Times reported that the tribunal is investigating payments to Mr Ahern totalling €50,000 to €100,000, some of which was paid in cash. Mr Ahern has stated that the figure is "off the wall" but has not given a figure himself. Sources close to Mr Ahern have said something in the region of €30,000 was collected, to settle legal fees Mr Ahern himself has said were connected with his marital separation.
Friends and associates of Mr Ahern may well have collectively contributed approximately €30,000 to Mr Ahern so that he could settle a legal bill. However, it has been established from sources outside the tribunal that it is also inquiring into other money over and above the money used to settle the legal bill.
Mr Ahern said last week: "I would say nobody, nobody has given as much detail and co-operation to the tribunals over several years . . . I gave them all the information about my separation case and all the information about my legal fees and how I funded everything, but they're personal matters."
In fact, there is information the tribunal is seeking but which Mr Ahern is contesting its right to have.
As reported in The Irish Times last week, matters to do with the inquiry into Mr Ahern's finances are to be the subject of a High Court hearing next month. The tribunal wants information on payments and assets associated with Mr Ahern's separation but Mr Ahern is contesting the tribunal's right to inquire into family law areas that are usually privileged and highly confidential.
Another issue which has arisen is whether the money given to Mr Ahern was by way of donations or loans.
When asked last Thursday if he had paid tax on the monies he had received, Mr Ahern said that he had "dealt properly" with the payments.
As reported on Saturday, sources have said that the monies given to Mr Ahern to help him settle his legal bills were given in the form of loans. Sources also said that not all of the money loaned in 1993 had been returned. Mr Ahern has not commented on this aspect of the matter.
Loans do not give rise to a tax liability. However, donations from non-family members give rise to capital acquisitions or gift tax. In 1993, the situation was that a person could receive up to £11,450 without incurring a gift tax liability. This allowance was not an annual but a cumulative one, i.e. it was for all gifts received up to that date.
Above £11,450, a person paid 20 per cent tax on the next £10,000, 30 per cent on the next £40,000, and 35 per cent thereafter. However, if the money received was by way of gifts, rather than inheritance, the total tax due was reduced by 25 per cent.
So gifts totalling £25,000 would lead to a £2,298 tax bill while gifts totalling £60,000 would lead to a £13,565 tax bill.
In separation cases, the funds received by one spouse from another do not give rise to a tax liability.
A final issue which has arisen has to do with the work of tribunals. Tribunals investigate and report on issues set out and defined in their terms of reference. A tribunal may not call evidence on matters that are not relevant to its terms of reference and it can only make findings on matters that have been heard in evidence.
The tribunal's private inquiries into the payments to Mr Ahern are so that it can satisfy itself that none of the money he received came from the property developer Owen O'Callaghan. In the early 1990s, Mr O'Callaghan had a very strong interest in the decisions that were made or not made by Mr Ahern, as minister for finance, concerning locations that would be designated for special tax treatment. This related to his Quarryvale project, which later became the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre.
If, in its private inquiries, the tribunal finds that Mr Ahern's finances reveal no links going back to Mr O'Callaghan, there will be no reason why it should call public evidence on the matter. It may simply state that Mr Ahern's finances have been trawled through, with no evidence found to support an allegation of a payment from Mr O'Callaghan. For this reason, the often stated position that these matters are best left to the tribunals and should not be explained or pursued in public does not apply. If Mr Ahern does not explain who paid what in 1993, and why, then most likely the matter never will be explained.
Weekend comments: what Ahern said
SATURDAY: statement - "Like all of the newspapers and everyone else involved with the tribunal, I cannot disclose or discuss confidential matters relating to the tribunal. I responded to the leak on Thursday, having notified the tribunal of that leak and in order to prevent the truth from being distorted. I have never received a bribe in my life. Everybody knows and sees that my lifestyle is as simple as it is honest. I have broken no law or violated any code of ethics."
SUNDAY: K Club - At the Ryder Cup to present the trophy yesterday, Mr Ahern had his lunch in the prestigious Boyne Suite overlooking the 18th green as a guest of Fáilte Ireland, along with a number of Ministers, including John O'Donoghue, Mary Harney and Dick Roche. Mr Ahern said he was enjoying the Ryder Cup.
"In spite of the weather it's been perfect, it's great to be here," he said. "It's been really well done, superbly organised." Asked whether he would make a statement on the payments issue, he said "I'm not going to talk about that today."