The £8.6 million figure given yesterday by the Moriarty tribunal for money received by former Taoiseach Charles Haughey is likely to be an overestimate, though probably not a large one.

It gives a feel for the huge sums Mr Haughey and his family spent in the 17 years from January 1979 to December 1996 and, who knows, may well be added to as the Moriarty tribunal's work continues.

The figure does not include Mr Haughey's salary from politics or the tens of thousands raised from his associates for his son, Ciaran Haughey's helicopter firm, Celtic Helicopters.

One figure in particular illustrates the extraordinary level of Mr Haughey's expenditure. Between January 1985 and January 1991, the bill-paying service operated for Mr Haughey by his former firm, Haughey Boland, dealt with invoices for £1.4 million, or just under £23,000 per month.

As far as can be ascertained, Mr Haughey's salary as Taoiseach was not used towards defraying these expenses. He cashed his monthly cheques and where the cash went then has not been revealed.

His huge bills were being settled using money from a wealthy circle of supporters, business figures who were being pressed for donations to pay for Mr Haughey's extravagance. Two features mark his finances: he always spent lavishly; and he was often broke.

The £8.6 million figure is likely to be an overestimate because it inevitably involves some money being counted twice. However, in listing the amounts it wants to question Mr Haughey about, the tribunal gave details of more than £1 million not known about before.

Last year, the tribunal revealed that Mr Haughey received Central Bank permission to take out a £400,000 sterling loan in 1983. By 1987 interest of £95,000 sterling had accrued.

The loan was from Guinness Mahon Cayman Trust (GMCT), the Cayman Islands bank later known as Ansbacher Cayman Ltd. It seems the loan was paid off in 1987, the year Mr Haughey returned to power. The tribunal has not discovered how the loan was repaid, and where the money was lodged is also not known.

Mr Haughey has granted the tribunal a waiver to look into his financial dealings with a number of banks but not with GMCT. Unless he gives evidence about the matter, no more is likely to be learned about the 1983 loan.

He has also refused the tribunal permission to look into his accounts with National Irish Bank. The existence of these accounts was revealed yesterday and they show lodgements of £580,774 up to the end of 1996. The question now arises as to whence this money came. Because the bank is within this jurisdiction, the files, if still in existence, will be subpoenaed.

The news that Mr Haughey is to be called to give evidence about all this money indicates that the tribunal is nearing the end of its work. Over the past 2 1/2 years the tribunal has served Mr Haughey with thousands of documents on its work and evidence it has heard.

He has also, we learned yesterday, been sent 32 letters, some extremely lengthy, outlining questions the tribunal would like answered. Judging from what was said yesterday, Mr Haughey is likely to be called before the tribunal in the next fortnight or so. His evidence could take weeks.

Unless he pleads complete ignorance of his financial affairs, his evidence is sure to be fascinating. Apart from a media statement issued at the time the tribunal began hearing evidence about the fund for the late Mr Brian Lenihan, Mr Haughey has been silent on the tribunal's work.

It is known he is paying close attention to its work, scouring the newspapers and having early morning meetings with his advisers to discuss the latest developments. His age and medical problems were allegedly behind his recent decision to settle with the Revenue Commissioners and whether a similar attitude will inform his dealings with the tribunal will be interesting to watch. Mr Jerry Healy SC, for the tribunal, said yesterday there has been no indication that Mr Haughey is refusing to present himself to give evidence.

Much is already known. Mr Haughey's main donors have included Mr Ben Dunne, Mr Patrick Gallagher, the late Mr P.V. Doyle and Mr Dermot Desmond. The latest total for Mr Dunne is £1.8 million, or £2 million if some account is taken of the changing exchange rate with sterling. As Mr Dunne admitted yesterday, further payments could yet be discovered.

Mr Gallagher gave £300,000 in January 1980 when Mr Haughey was settling his debt with AIB. Mr Doyle gave £330,000 in the mid-1980s, through loans he took out which Mr Haughey used. Mr Desmond gave £125,000 sterling in two payments made in 1994 and 1996, and paid £75,546 sterling towards the refurbishment of the Haughey family yacht.

It was disclosed yesterday that £50,000 from the property developer Mr John Byrne was lodged to an account associated with payments to Mr Haughey in February 1987. Mr Byrne, a hugely wealthy businessman who frequently visited Mr Haughey in Kinsealy through the decades and had dealings with the Ansbacher deposits, has said he cannot remember writing the cheque.

Mr Haughey was hugely insolvent at the time of his election as Taoiseach in December 1979. In the same days and weeks as he was taking control of his party and the State, money was being passed to him through the late Mr Des Traynor to pay off his £1.143 million AIB overdraft. Of the £750,000 used to settle the debt, £300,000 has been accounted for. It came from Mr Gallagher.

Another £150,000 came from the Rotunda branch of the Bank of Ireland, Dublin. The tribunal has heard that this branch is the one used by one of Mr Byrne's main companies, Carlisle Trust, but no more has been heard on the matter.

Other payments were lodged with Guinness & Mahon bank around the same time but the records show little of where they came from other than the "Rotunda" payment. Unless Mr Haughey can give the details in evidence, we may never know for sure who paid off his debts at the same time as he was being elevated to the most powerful office in the State.

Arguably the fallout from the developments of December 1979/ January 1980 are now all around us, from the expensive hearings being conducted by millionaire barristers in Dublin Castle, to the sprawling housing estates in West Dublin which were built without shopping centres so as to satisfy greed.