The chairman of the Mahon tribunal yesterday "categorically rejected" what he said was an allegation by counsel for the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, that the tribunal was biased against his client.
Judge Alan Mahon said he would consult with his colleagues and may respond further today to lengthy and sharp criticism yesterday from Conor Maguire SC, counsel for the Taoiseach.
Mr Maguire made a sustained attack against the tribunal in the wake of a two-hour opening statement which dealt solely with the issue of Mr Ahern's finances.
The statement, by tribunal counsel Des O'Neill SC, questioned the accuracy of aspects of the account which has been given to the tribunal by Mr Ahern concerning his finances. However, Mr O'Neill warned against people coming to conclusions on the basis of an opening statement.
In his statement, Mr O'Neill referred in detail to a lodgment to AIB on O'Connell Street, Dublin, by Mr Ahern's then partner, Celia Larkin, on Monday, December 5th, 1994. Mr Ahern was expecting to become Taoiseach the next day.
The tribunal has been told by Mr Ahern that the lodgment, of IR£28,772.90, was the proceeds of stg£30,000 in cash which had been given to Mr Ahern by Manchester businessman Michael Wall and which was to be spent in connection with a house Mr Wall was then in the process of buying. Ms Larkin was to oversee the expenditure, and Mr Ahern was to rent the house from Mr Wall.
However, the tribunal has discovered that the bank branch concerned had total sterling transactions on that day amounting to a value of only IR£1,921.55.
"The bank records do not show any exchange of sterling £30,000 or of any sum greater than IR£1,921.55 having been conducted by AIB O'Connell Street on that day," Mr O'Neill said.
He further said that "a customer presenting exactly $45,000 for exchange into Irish currency on December 5th, 1994 would have received exactly IR£28,772.90 in exchange applying the AIB rate appropriate to a US dollar transaction to a value of up to £2,500 with a deduction of the discretionary IR£5 commission."
Mr O'Neill said banks use different exchange rates depending on the size and nature of the transaction and that some other foreign exchange transactions by Mr Ahern at the bank may have involved an inappropriate exchange rate being applied.
The December 5th lodgment is one of four lodgments involving foreign exchange transactions which Mr O'Neill said the tribunal will investigate.
The tribunal's inquiries into Mr Ahern's finances form part of its Quarryvale module. It is investigating whether Mr Ahern received money from developer Owen O'Callaghan, the main figure behind the development of the Liffey Valley shopping centre in Dublin in the 1990s.
Businessman Tom Gilmartin has alleged he was told by Mr O'Callaghan that Mr Ahern was given £80,000 in return for ensuring that a rival development was not given tax designation. Both Mr Ahern and Mr O'Callaghan have strongly rejected the allegation.
Mr O'Neill said the tribunal's inquiries into Mr Ahern's finances had not found any documentation linking Mr O'Callaghan to the various transactions involving Mr Ahern that formed the subject of yesterday's statement.
"The matter is dealt with in the detail which is set out . . . because of the volume and complexity of the material which is deemed relevant."
He said that during the period when the payments were alleged to have been made by Mr O'Callaghan, Mr Ahern had no personal bank account and had £50,000 in accumulated cash savings.
Mr Maguire said the tribunal has "postulated theories in respect of [lodgments by Mr Ahern] and has engaged in speculation and hypothesis based on inappropriate foreign exchange rates" while having no documentation to support these hypothesis. The suggestion in relation to $45,000 was "completely fanciful".
He criticised the tribunal for circulating confidential documentation when it had been warned it would be leaked to the media, and in the context of a pending election campaign. "The actions of the tribunal in . . . circulating the documents at a such a time was bound to create a serious risk of an interference with the democratic process."