O'Reilly loans discussed with Moriarity team and officials

Loans extended by Guinness & Mahon Bank to Dr Tony O'Reilly have been discussed by his representatives with the Moriarity Tribunal and, separately, with an authorised officer appointed by the Tanaiste, Ms Harney.

Details of the loans were supplied to the tribunal and to the Tanaiste's officer, Mr Gerard Ryan, during their investigations into the activies of Guinness & Mahon, the bank which held the Ansbacher deposits for many years.

Both the tribunal and Mr Ryan received documentation about these loans "arising from their general enquiries at the initiation of their investigations", according to a statement from Dr O'Reilly. Following this, an adviser to Dr O'Reilly requested a meeting with both the tribunal and Mr Ryan, according to the statement, and answered their queries on the matter.

"No further enquiries have been raised by either of the parties," the statement said. The Moriarty Tribunal and the Ryan inquiry are both looking into the Ansbacher deposits, funds held by Ansbacher (Cayman) - mainly on behalf of Irish residents - with Guinness & Mahon (G&M) for many years, and subsequently moved to Irish Intercontinental Bank. They are also understood to be looking at a range of transactions linked to the Ansbacher deposits.

As part of these investigations, they asked Guinness & Mahon for information on a number of occasions. In response to one of these queries, the files containing details of the loans to Dr O'Reilly were sent to Mr Ryan and to the tribunal. It is not clear why G&M sent the file containing information on the O'Reilly loans to the tribunal and to the Harney inquiry, although it is known that both enquiries have undertaken a wide trawl of the bank's records. Following the forwarding of the information, a representative of Dr O'Reilly then had discussions with Mr Ryan and the Moriarty Tribunal team. It is understood that the value of the two loans totalled a six figure sum - probably somewhere in the region of $300,000 (£215,000 at today's exchange rate). The tribunal team and Mr Ryan are believed to have asked for details of how the loans were guaranteed and the purpose for which the money was used.

It is understood that Dr O'Reilly told them that he guaranteed the loans from shares he personally owned. The money is said to have been used for business purposes.

The meetings are believed to have taken place four months ago and, according to Dr O'Reilly's statement, no further queries have been made by either of the investigations in the meantime. The main thrust of the Moriarty investigation is political funding of the former Taoiseach, Mr Haughey, and the former Fine Gael Minister, Mr Michael Lowry. Dr O'Reilly has said he has never made contributions to either man. Both the tribunal and the Tanaiste's inquiry are also looking at the use of the Ansbacher deposits as vehicles for tax evasion. However, Dr O'Reilly took out a loan and has categorically stated that he was not a depositor with G&M or Ansbacher, apart from an account held in G&M for one year in 1972.

Dr O'Reilly's statement also points out that he has not been tax resident in Ireland since 1971, as he has been resident in the US and working with H.J. Heinz. The statement also says that Dr O'Reilly has had, and continues, to have business relationship with Ansbacher (Cayman) under which the Cayman bank extends him loan facilities. Ansbacher (Cayman) purchased the operation of Guinness & Mahon in the Cayman Islands in the mid 1980s and it is the bank in whose name the so-called Ansbacher deposits were held in the two Dublin banks.