Cosgrave says he kept no records of expenses and donations

THE FLOOD TRIBUNAL:   Former Fine Gael senator Mr Liam Cosgrave has told the tribunal he kept no records until recently of expenses incurred and donations received during a 22-year political career.

Mr Cosgrave told the tribunal he had been a public representative since 1981. His only other income came from work as a legal consultant with Egan Cosgrave solicitors. He fought 14 local, general and Seanad elections during this time.

Asked by Mr John Gallagher SC, for the tribunal, if kept a "war chest" to fight elections, Mr Cosgrave said he had "certain funds" but they were not extravagant. He estimated the average cost of fighting an election at £5,000- £10,000. After every election he was "in the red".

He told Mr Gallagher that friends and family gave him donations to help fight elections. He did not keep a record of his election expenses. The money went into one of his two current accounts or it was used on the election trail. "I might cash a cheque in a hostelry while canvassing and put up a drink for the canvassers," he explained. "In a heated campaign, you don't spend all day looking at the books."

Mr Cosgrave estimated his 1989 income at £10,000-£12,000. The equivalent of this was spent on fighting the two elections held in that year, he told Mr Gallagher. He did not keep records of income and expenditure.

Mr Gallagher asked him about the expenses involved in fighting each election from 1987 on, and the donations he received from supporters. Regarding 1989, Mr Cosgrave said it was impossible to say how much he had put into his accounts. It was 16 years ago; in some cases, he could not remember payments that had happened last September. Asked how many donors had contributed to his campaign in that year, he said there were four or five. He could not recall the amounts.

Mr Gallagher then asked Mr Cosgrave to write down the names of donors for each election he fought. He supplied the tribunal with 10 names. In the most recent election he fought in 2002, Mr Cosgrave said he received €8,000-€10,000 in donations, mostly from three donors. Some €7,000 came from his family.

He said he first met Mr Frank Dunlop in the mid-1970s and became friendly with him in the early 1990s. He met Mr Dunlop in connection with developments in Carrickmines, Quarryvale, Baldoyle, as well as a few others.

They lunched together with other councillors in Patrick Guilbaud's, Buswell's and the Davenport Hotel; sometimes Mr Dunlop would pay and sometimes the councillors would pay. Mr Cosgrave's evidence continues today.