On Allied Irish Banks . . .

What the tribunal says: Allied Irish Banks, the State's largest financial institution, gave an "indirect payment or benefit …

What the tribunal says:Allied Irish Banks, the State's largest financial institution, gave an "indirect payment or benefit equivalent to a payment" to Mr Haughey when it forgave significant debts that he had run up before he became taoiseach in 1979.

Mr Haughey's debt at AIB's Dame Street branch was in the amount of £1.143 million in December 1979.

Mr Haughey paid only £750,000 to discharge that debt, meaning that the bank forgave a total of £393,000.

Mr Justice Moriarty says the bank took no action to curb Mr Haughey's mounting debt in the 1970s, exhibited a marked deference to him and was disinclined to address or control his excesses as a

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banking customer.

This attitude became increasingly deferent after Mr Haughey joined the cabinet in 1977. Immediately after his election as taoiseach, AIB's then deputy chief executive Patrick O'Keeffe concluded a settlement.

Mr Haughey's debit balance was agreed at £860,001 in January 1980, of which £750,000 was to be paid the following month, with £110,000 to stand interest-free on the bank's books - to be paid within a reasonable period.

The £110,000 was never paid. In 1990 the bank released the deeds to Mr Haughey's home, Abbeville, which it had held in security over that sum.