Lawyers deny 'ambush' claims

Tribunal lawyers have denied a claim that they tried to "ambush" solicitor Mr John Caldwell by suggesting he had failed to provide the inquiry with vital documents.

Mr Des O'Neill SC, for the tribunal, said the claim by lawyers for Mr Caldwell was "baseless".

However, lawyers for Mr Caldwell said the tribunal was being "grossly unfair" to their client, who had provided the inquiry with more than 12,000 documents.

Mr O'Neill said it was "not credible" for Mr Caldwell to say he had no documents regarding the proceeds of a land deal after they were moved to the Channel Islands.

Mr Caldwell told the tribunal he had provided it with all the documents he could obtain regarding the sale of land at Coolamber in west Dublin.

He had provided thousands of pages of documents, employing 14 people. He believed he had complied with the tribunal's order.

Mr O'Neill said the tribunal had not been provided with attendances kept by his Jersey-based solicitor, Mr Nicholas Morgan, to whom about £1.5 million in proceeds from the sale of the Coolamber land were transferred and placed in a family trust. Mr Caldwell said he was not a member of this trust and had no legal entitlement to any funds going into it.

Judge Alan Mahon said this wasn't a "genuine loan" as commonly understood, where money had to be repaid. If Mr Caldwell was told to repay the loan, he would tell the trust to "get lost".

Mr O'Neill suggested that no trustee would have parted with £1.5 million without leaving a documentary trail. It was "not credible" for Mr Caldwell to say he had no such documents or power of procurement.

Mr Ian Finlay SC, for Mr Caldwell, accused Mr O'Neill of trying to "ambush" his client. At no time did the tribunal suggest there was any inadequacy in the documents supplied. It was "grossly unfair" to Mr Caldwell and his legal team for some "alleged inadequacy" in the documents to be raised in a public forum.