ANALYSIS:Yesterday's evidence suggests the Taoiseach was receiving and lodging large sterling sums in 1994, writes Colm Keena.
ONCE AGAIN the tribunal has encountered banking records that are at odds with evidence given to it by the Taoiseach.
The new documentation indicates that Bertie Ahern was receiving large amounts of sterling currency, possibly cash, and was having it lodged to his account. The branch manager at the time the documentation was generated offered no other possible interpretation when asked about the records yesterday.
His evidence conflicts directly with Mr Ahern's evidence in February. Mr Ahern's counsel did not challenge the evidence heard yesterday but reserved his position. The tribunal has written to Mr Ahern in recent weeks seeking a response to the new documentation but to date he has not responded.
The documentation indicates sterling was being lodged to Mr Ahern's building society account in Drumcondra in the period May to October 1994, as well as to the accounts of his two daughters in the same institution. The lodgements were made by Grainne Carruth, an employee in Mr Ahern's constituency centre, St Luke's, and on Mr Ahern's instructions.
The manager in the Irish Permanent Building Society in Drumcondra at the time, Blair Hughes, said he knew Ms Carruth at the time and that she was making lodgements to "the Ahern accounts". Furthermore, he said he was of the view at the time that the lodgements involved sterling, because of conversations he had had with her.
Mr Ahern gave evidence about the building society account in February. He said he opened the account with a view to using it to support a mortgage application at a later date. In excess of £38,000 was lodged to the account in the period 1994 to 1997 and Mr Ahern said the money lodged came from his salary as a politician.
When tribunal counsel Des O'Neill SC put it to Mr Ahern that there was no documentation available to show the source of the money, Mr Ahern responded: "Well, the records, Mr O'Neill, are my salary records. My income is the income."
Mr Ahern's evidence was that large odd-figure lodgements to the account were accumulated salary cheques being lodged. The explanation was given by him in relation to the lodgements covered by yesterday's evidence.
The tribunal has already noted that the total lodgements to Mr Ahern's accounts in the 1993 to 1994 period exceeded his salary by a factor of two and a half to three.
The tribunal also heard evidence yesterday about another account in the same branch, the "B/T" account operated by Mr Ahern's colleague Tim Collins. Mr Hughes said it was his understanding at the time that "B/T" stood for "Bertie and Tim". He said he never believed the account had an association with Fianna Fáil.
The tribunal has already been told that the money lodged to the account came from political donations. The Taoiseach's former partner, Celia Larkin, was given £30,000 from the account in 1993. Yesterday Mr Hughes said the bank records indicated a £20,000 lodgement to the account in October 1994 was preceded by the exchange of sterling. Mr Ahern and Mr Collins have said B/T stands for building trust.
Last year the tribunal queried Mr Ahern about a lodgement to an account of his in AIB in October 1994 that equates to exactly £25,000 sterling. In all, the tribunal has now looked at three possible sterling lodgements in October 1994, to three different accounts, totalling £49,500 sterling.
The inquiry into Mr Ahern's finances is so as to exclude the possibility of money coming from other than his declared sources of income. Such an outcome would seem to be further away than ever.