Mr Michael Lowry was sent an envelope containing £35,000 in cash as payment for antiques and paintings from a prominent property developer in 1995, he told the tribunal yesterday.
Mr Lowry was minister for transport, energy and communications when Mr Patrick Doherty sent the envelope containing the money to the politicians' home in Holycross, Co Tipperary. It arrived in a delivery van which Mr Doherty sent to collect the antiques. The driver of the delivery van handed the cash to Mr Lowry's secretary.
The fact that the money arrived in cash was a surprise, Mr Lowry said. He had expected a bank draft. Asked by counsel for the tribunal if the money formed "a substantial bulk" in the A4 envelope, Mr Lowry replied: "Well, obviously it would. I don't know what the size of the envelope was. All I know is that contrary to the ones we are hearing about in recent times, it was a large white envelope".
Mr Doherty had been known to Mr Lowry "socially and particularly through horse racing circles for several years". Over a social drink in Jury's, Ballsbridge, in early 1995, Mr Doherty had mentioned that he had an interest in new furniture and antiques. Mr Lowry mentioned the items he was interested in selling.
Mr Doherty inspected the goods and asked Mr Lowry to have an independent valuation prepared. Mr Doherty agreed to pay £35,000 for the items, which included a three-piece 19th-century clock set and a painting of gun dogs, in May 1995.
Asked if he realised that "a transaction like that would have perhaps carried some capital tax implications to it", Mr Lowry said "there was no discussion on any tax implication, but from my perspective it was dealt with by my accountant subsequently".
When Mr John Coughlan SC asked Mr Lowry if he now "saw anything strange about somebody purchasing something from a minister and paying £35,000 in cash, Mr Lowry replied that when he looked at it in the context of a tribunal he would prefer now to have received a bank draft or to have sold the items at auction.
"Then I wouldn't have to answer the kind of questions you are putting to me today. At the time it didn't arise, it didn't cross my mind," he said.
