Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte today issued a public statement accusing Mahon Tribunal witness Frank Dunlop of making contradictory statements about rezoning in south Dublin.
Mr Dunlop told the tribunal today that he mentioned the rezoning land at Ballycullen to Mr Rabbitte while making an alleged IR£3,000 payment to the then Democratic Left TD in 1992.
Mr Dunlop, a former lobbyist who has admitted bribing politicians to rezone lands in south and west Dublin, said the payment was a donation to Mr Rabbitte's expenses for an upcoming election.
It would not have been made, however, if Mr Rabbitte had not supported the Ballycullen rezoning, Mr Dunlop told the tribunal today. There was nothing improper in making the payment and the evidence was not intended to cast aspersions on Mr Rabbitte, Mr Dunlop added.
Mr Rabbitte's account of the circumstances of the payment differs significantly. The Labour Party leader issued a statement after Mr Dunlop's testimony today again insisting Mr Dunlop gave him IR£2,000.
Both men agreed that a cheque for IR£2,000 was returned to Mr Dunlop from Democratic Left a month later. The cheque in question has already been produced to the tribunal, Mr Rabbitte said in his statement today.
Mr Dunlop's claim that 'he mentioned Mr Rabbitte's support for the rezoning of land at Ballycullen' was also rejected by the Labour Party leader.
"It is not possible to reconcile his statement that he wouldn't have given me a political donation only for my support for Ballycullen with his earlier statement that 'to my knowledge Mr Rabbitte never voted for anything I was promoting'.
"I presume that the tribunal will put this and other conflicts in Mr Dunlop's public and private statements of evidence to him now that he has completed direct evidence and I look forward to the earliest opportunity to give my evidence," Mr Rabbitte added.