In the period up to February 1992 there were board disagreements at Dunnes Holding Company about Mr Ben Dunne's policy decisions and trading methods. After February 1992 Mr Dunne's already troubled relations with his siblings took a nose dive.

He had been arrested in Florida, in the company of a call girl, and charged with possession of cocaine. The arrest received massive publicity. After the trial he was ordered to spend a month in a rehabilitation clinic in England.

By February 1993 Mr Dunne was removed as chairman of the Dunnes holding company and by July he was removed as executive director. All through this year he was having his house extensively renovated.

In July 1992, the first document concerning the £1 million (#1.27 million) renovation of his Castleknock home had been generated by Eugene Beglan & Associates, quantity surveyors.

The quantity surveyors informed Peter Stevens, Architects, that work conducted earlier and worth £169,434 could be invoiced for.

Stevens in turn issued a certificate to Faxhill Homes, the company in charge of the work, presenting it as being work on a unit in Newbridge Industrial Estate for a Dunnes subsidiary, Candida Ltd. Faxhill Homes Ltd invoiced Dunnes Stores for the work and was paid.

By mid-1993, the total spent on the house was £884,507. Around this time a change occurred in the documents which were being produced concerning the work and the billing of Dunnes Stores. Instead of referring to Candida Ltd as the client, the Stevens documents began to refer to Mr Dunne. Also, the documents began to identify the work as having been on Mr Dunne's Castleknock home.

Expenditure on the house tailed off. An architect's certificate in November 1993 was for £24,169 and was described as a final certificate in a letter from Mr Stevens to Mr and Mrs Dunne. When the associated invoice from Faxhill Homes was settled in December the cheque came from Dunnes Stores Ireland Co. Despite all that was happening within Dunnes, Mr Dunne was still receiving some benefit from the company.

Nothing then happened until February 1995, when a final payment was made, for £40,000. Little documentation exists for this, but it is known the money came from Mr Dunne's personal account.

In the wake of the McCracken inquiry, the Tanaiste Ms Harney, appointed an authorised officer to Faxhill Homes.