Statement made by Coveney about father's investment

The late Mr Hugh Coveney, a former Fine Gael minister, was one of a number of people named in the Ansbacher report whom his son believed was "not guilty of the type of tax evasion that this report has undoubtedly exposed".

Mr Simon Coveney (Cork South-Central), who succeeded his father as a TD following his death, said it was "important to note that there is no new information in this report relating to Hugh Coveney and no accusation of wrongdoing".

In a short personal statement to the Dáil, Mr Coveney said he hoped his belief that his father was not guilty of tax evasion would be "supported in time by the conclusions of the Moriarty tribunal report".

His father had had two dealings with Guinness & Mahon bank. One related to a deposit in the 1970s and the second to a payment on a failed US property venture. His family had accepted the existence of deposits, in statements made to the inspectors and to the Moriarty tribunal, and had co-operated at all times with the investigations.

He had "reason to believe the original deposit came from the proceeds of a legitimate venture and there was no attempt to evade tax or hide income at the time". A withdrawal of that deposit was made in 1979 and there was no evidence of any further deposits. "The evidence suggests there was no attempt to hide my late father's identity as the owner of these deposits at any time."

In the failed US property venture in 1980, Mr Coveney had been one of eight investors in a consortium. He had invested $212,000 in the scheme, borrowing the funds from Guinness & Mahon Cayman Trust. He had guaranteed those borrowings. The development failed and his guarantee had been called. He also had guaranteed borrowings from AIB, which were also called.