'My wife knew' of £50,000 savings

Cash in safes:Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said that his estranged wife was aware he had cash savings of over £50,000 accumulated in two safes between 1987 and 1994.

The tribunal had heard that Mr Ahern saved the money from his income between the time he left his wife in 1987 and when his separation was legally finalised in 1994.

Mr Ahern had said he did not operate any bank accounts over that time and staff went to the bank and changed his salary cheques for him. He had said he took out his running costs from the cash and stored the remainder in two safes, in his constituency office in Drumcondra and in his ministerial office.

When his separation was finalised, he began dealing with banks again, he had said.

Counsel for the tribunal Des O'Neill SC yesterday read into the record details of a tribunal interview with the Taoiseach in April 2007.

In the interview, tribunal counsel had asked Mr Ahern if there was any reason why he did not use his £50,000 savings to pay bills in December 1993 instead of taking out a loan from AIB bank.

Mr Ahern had responded that he wanted to "leave the loan standing".

Counsel then asked why he did not lodge the cash savings into the bank immediately.

Mr Ahern said there was no reason, other than the fact that he was getting through a difficult separation.

"My wife knew I had the money and what I had," he said. "We were upfront on all of these issues. I just didn't do it immediately."

Mr O'Neill suggested the amount was sizeable and could have produced significant interest on deposit. "To be honest with you, the last thing I was interested in, in early 1994, was interest," Mr Ahern responded.