An auctioneer, Mr John Finnegan, was refused any award of costs at the tribunal yesterday on the grounds that he had failed to co-operate with the inquiry.
Mr Finnegan was a witness in the module relating to builders Mr Tom Brennan and Mr Joseph McGowan.
The chairman, Judge Alan Mahon, said in the tribunal report adverse findings were made against Mr Finnegan on the issue of co-operation.
The tribunal had found that he had been involved in making a corrupt payment to the former minister, Mr Ray Burke. It found Mr Finnegan had contributed £10,000 sterling towards the corrupt payment of £60,000 sterling made to Mr Burke in 1984.
The report had stated that Mr Finnegan obstructed and hindered the tribunal including failing to give a truthful account of the circumstances in which the £10,000 was paid to Mr Burke.
He said it was further held by the tribunal that the inability to conclude what the true nature of the circumstances were in relation to the £60,000 stemmed from the fact that Mr Finnegan and others had failed to give any comprehensible account as to what their relationship was with Mr Burke. This failure hindered and obstructed the tribunal.
Mr Finnegan gave oral evidence to the tribunal over a period of 14 days. He had been granted limited legal representation by the tribunal and he had benefit of senior counsel and a firm of solicitors.
The chairman said he had the benefit of reading transcripts of relevant evidence, correspondence and documentation. These assisted in determining whether there were occasions when Mr Finnegan had co-operated or whether his failure to co-operate was a feature of his evidence and dealings with the tribunal.
"It is clear that Mr Finnegan was a very important witness in the Brennan and McGowan module. His evidence, if given truthfully, had the potential to assist the tribunal in a very real way. Full co-operation on the part of Mr Finnegan would have significantly eased the work of the tribunal," the chairman said.
Having regard to the findings of the tribunal report and to the significant degree of non-co-operation on the part of Mr Finnegan "and the fact that his non-co-operation stemmed from a deliberate decision on his part to deal with the tribunal on this basis", he concluded that Mr Finnegan was not entitled to an award of costs. He refused the application.
Judge Mahon did not specify the amount of the costs Mr Finnegan was claiming but it is believed it is in the region of €125,000.