The Flood Tribunal is expected to begin High Court proceedings today to force Mr Liam Lawlor to appear before it. The Opposition, meanwhile, is preparing to increase pressure on the Dublin West TD to resign his Dail seat.
After Mr Lawlor failed to turn up yesterday to give evidence before the tribunal, the Ceann Comhairle ruled out an Opposition request to convene a special meeting of the Dail Committee on Procedures and Privileges on the grounds that the DPP is looking into the matter.
However, the issue will be raised in the Dail today in an effort to force debate on a motion calling on Mr Lawlor to resign his seat unless he agrees to co-operate with the hearings.
Apart from today's High Court move, Mr Lawlor is also facing possible criminal proceedings over his failure to comply with the tribunal orders after Mr Justice Flood referred the matter to the DPP. If he decides to prosecute, Mr Lawlor could be liable to a fine of £10,000 and/or two years in jail.
Mr Justice Flood said the tribunal had failed to secure any "meaningful co-operation" from Mr Lawlor on a voluntary basis. He pointed out that the TD had at no time challenged the validity of the orders.
Mr Lawlor last night denied he had not co-operated with the tribunal. He said he wanted to put it on record that, based on legal advice and his own willingness to co-operate, he had responded to "every query, in detail, raised by the Flood Tribunal".
The TD resigned from Fianna Fail in June after a party inquiry accused him of being unco-operative and contradictory. He has begun several legal challenges to the right of the tribunal to inquire into his affairs and to compel him to appear.
Mr John Gallagher SC, for the tribunal, yesterday read from 50 letters the tribunal had sent to Mr Lawlor's lawyers over the past two years, and the replies. Mr Gallagher accused the TD of being "argumentative and contentious" and "long on verbiage and short on facts" in his replies.
A number of new allegations against Mr Lawlor emerged during the reading of the correspondence. These included an allegation that he received £74,000 from National Toll Roads for a report in the early 1990s, and an allegation that he faked invoices from companies for goods which had not been provided.
The tribunal is seeking information from the TD on eight categories of allegation.
The best-known allegations concern payments totalling £35,000 from the developer Mr Tom Gilmartin, and "substantial payments" from the lobbyist Mr Frank Dunlop for the rezoning of Quarryvale and other properties in Dublin. The tribunal is also seeking details about Mr Lawlor's use of the tax amnesty.
Mr Gallagher said the TD had failed to provide the tribunal with details of his financial accounts and also refused to give his consent to a search of financial institutions for accounts in his name.
The tribunal ultimately wrote to 223 institutions seeking information on accounts held by Mr Lawlor after the tribunal made an order to this effect.
After The Irish Times reported on this trawl last July, Mr Lawlor demanded a tribunal investigation into the disclosure of this information. This was refused.
Mr Lawlor has argued through his solicitors that it was unacceptable for the tribunal to "trawl" through his personal and business affairs.
Mr Lawlor's solicitors informed the tribunal that he had availed of the 1993 tax amnesty in respect of dividends earned as an underwriter for Lloyds insurers.