The Moriarty tribunal is to examine whether money given to Mr Charles Haughey to cover Mr Brian Lenihan's medical bills exceeded the amount eventually used for that purpose, tribunal counsel said.
Speaking for the tribunal legal team, Mr John Coughlan SC said that in 1989, excluding his leader's allowance, Mr Haughey's account in AIB, Lower Baggot Street, Dublin, held for Fianna Fail party leaders, contained £220,000.
However, he said only £82,528 of this was used to cover bills associated with Mr Lenihan's treatment at the Mayo Clinic in the United States.
Mr Coughlan said the tribunal wanted to examine whether a £20,000 cheque from the Irish Permanent "described as being for B. Lenihan, was used for the purpose envisaged or for some other purpose". He said that although more information had now come to hand concerning what may have happened to this £20,000 cheque, "the questions raised in the course of the tribunal's last public sittings are still pertinent."
Referring to how the bills for the clinic were handled, Mr Coughlan outlined communications from Mr Padraic MacKernan, secretary general of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Mr MacKernan told the tribunal that in 1989 arrangements were made between the Department of Foreign Affairs - of which the late Mr Lenihan was then minister - and the Taoiseach's office for the transmission and payment of invoices from the Mayo Clinic.
He said invoices were issued to Mr MacKernan, then the ambassador to Washington, and were forwarded through the Department of Foreign Affairs to the Taoiseach's Office. He said US dollar cheques were then provided by the Taoiseach's Office and channelled back to the Mayo clinic.
"It appears, therefore, that the total funds withdrawn from the AIB leader's allowance account and applied to defray expenses incurred in connection with the late Mr Lenihan's treatment was £82,528," said Mr Coughlan.
He said the £82,528 was made up of the following amounts - £59,606 to fund a US dollar cheque for the Mayo clinic; £4,933 for the Department of Foreign Affairs on September 27th, 1989; £5,073 paid to the Department of Foreign Affairs on December 18th, 1989; and £12,914 paid to Department of Defence on February 15th, 1991.
The payment to the Department of Defence arose because it had covered £12,914 travelling expenses incurred by Mr Lenihan during his treatment.
Mr Coughlan referred to another invoice from the Mayo Clinic, dated July 1989, for $81,602. He said that under a "special claims appeal" this bill had been picked up by the VHI.
"The tribunal has been informed that special claims appeals are cases which involve an element of ex gratia payment and therefore must receive the approval of the board of the VHI," said Mr Coughlan.
Mr Coughlan added that VHI board minutes showed the directors agreed to discharge the invoice. Among the directors present was Mr Noel Fox.
Mr Coughlan said one of the problems for the tribunal in its investigation was that there appeared to be no accounts covering the money contributed to defray the medical expenses of the late Mr Lenihan.
Mr Coughlan said further investigation would be needed of the account at Baggot Street. He said, for example, the tribunal had already heard about a cheque drawn on the AIB leader's allowance account for £25,000. He said it appeared this cheque was lodged "to the Amiens Security Account in Guinness and Mahon", controlled by Mr Des Traynor.