The Moriarty tribunal, which has conducted an exhaustive trawl through the financial records of Mr Michael Lowry, has found only one new controversial payment, according to sources.
The tribunal, which resumes its hearings today and is likely to hear evidence in relation to Mr Lowry, discovered a payment of £15,000 made to the former minister by Dunnes Stores. The payment is similar to other "bonus" payments, totalling approximately £680,000, which were examined by the McCracken (Dunnes Payments) tribunal.
Mr Lowry's refrigeration company, Garuda Ltd, which trades under the name Streamline, was set up at the suggestion of Mr Dunne in the late 1980s and worked solely for Dunnes Stores. Before his departure as head of the Dunnes group in 1993, Mr Dunne oversaw a system where Garuda made small losses or profits, and Mr Lowry was given bonus payments.
The £15,000 is understood to have been paid from an account in the Republic into an account in the Republic.
Mr Lowry's appearance before the tribunal takes place against the background of an ongoing Revenue investigation. He fears the Revenue is determined to bring him before the courts and seek a conviction.
The Revenue has been conducting an investigation since December 1996, when Mr Lowry informed the Dail he had availed of the 1993 tax amnesty but may not have included all relevant income.
Making a false declaration for the purpose of the amnesty is a serious offence, for which a person who is found guilty can be sent to jail.
Dail deputies who are sentenced to more than six months in jail automatically lose their seats.
Last year Mr Lowry was formally cautioned by the Revenue that any statements made by him could be used in evidence against him. A file was sent to the DPP but as the former minister has not been charged, it seems the Revenue has not gathered sufficient evidence to convince the DPP that charges should be brought.
Mr Lowry believes the Revenue is awaiting the completion of the Moriarty tribunal, or at least the hearing of all evidence in relation to him, before deciding how to finalise his case.
It is understood he has made a partial settlement with the Revenue in relation to the income considered by the McCracken tribunal, but an offer by him to make a "full and final settlement" has been rejected.
Mr Lowry's business activities have prospered since his resignation from government in November 1996 and he has continued to work hard as a public representative for Tipperary North.
In the recent local elections Mr Lowry topped the poll in the Thurles electoral area, winning 3,049 votes. The quota was 1,213. His running mate, Mr Willie Kennedy, was also elected.
Mr Lowry's company continues to provide refrigeration services to Dunnes Stores. The retail group currently has the business out to tender but the service is still being provided by Streamline.
Last year Mr Lowry established a new business, Instore Cooling Ltd, which supplies air conditioning to shops and offices.
In December 1996 he claimed that substantial sums were still owed to him by Dunnes Stores for work he did for the company up to 1993 when it was still being run by Mr Ben Dunne.
However the present management disagrees and no payments have been made.
The McCracken tribunal heard of income totalling approximately £680,000 given to Mr Lowry by Dunnes Stores in the period December 1989 to 1992/1993, much of which was not declared. The figure includes work valued at £395,000 which was carried out on Mr Lowry's home in Holy Cross, Co Tipperary, by a contractor who was paid by Dunnes Stores. The item was treated in the Dunnes books as work carried out on the ILAC Centre in Dublin.
Other payments were made in sterling and transferred from offshore companies controlled by Mr Dunne into offshore accounts belonging to Mr Lowry.
Mr Justice McCracken, in his report, found that many of the methods employed in paying Mr Lowry were "designed to, and did, assist him in evading tax". Mr Justice McCracken also wrote: "It would be very damaging if there was a public perception that a person in the position of government minister and member of cabinet was able to ignore with impunity, and indeed cynically evade both taxation and exchange control laws of the State. It is an appalling situation that a government minister and chairman of a parliamentary party can be seen to be consistently benefiting from the black economy from shortly after the time he was first elected to Dail Eireann.
"If such a person can behave in this way without serious sanctions being imposed, it becomes very difficult to condemn others who similarly flout the law."
Mr Justice McCracken found that no political favours were given by Mr Lowry in return for the funds he received from Dunnes Stores or Mr Ben Dunne.
It is likely that the Moriarty tribunal has made inquiries into the most controversial decision overseen by Mr Lowry during his time in office, the granting of the second mobile phone licence to Esat Digifone. However Esat has not been contacted by the tribunal in relation to the matter. Mr Lowry, in his Dail statement in December 1996, said he had no involvement in the selection of the winning submission.
Fine Gael in North Tipperary has been hit hard by Mr Lowry's difficulties. A party member from the Thurles area says there is a widely held view that Mr Lowry will return to the party.
"People around here think he did nothing compared to Charlie Haughey. All he did was not pay some tax.
"A lot of Fine Gael people still have great affection for him, though others would leave the party if he's allowed to return."
