Lowry under tribunal investigation

The Moriarty tribunal is investigating the finances of Mr Michael Lowry as well as those of Mr Charles Haughey.

The inquiry into the former Fine Gael minister's finances arises from the McCracken tribunal, which found that Mr Lowry was paid hundreds of thousands of pounds by Mr Ben Dunne in a way which was designed to, and did, assist Mr Lowry to evade tax.

The payments were sometimes made by way of deposits offshore and once by picking up a £395,000 bill arising from a major extension to Mr Lowry's Co Tipperary home. The cost of the extension was treated in the Dunnes Stores books as arising from work on the Ilac centre in Dublin.

The payments to Mr Lowry were for work carried out by his company, Garuda Ltd, trading as Streamline Enterprises.

It is not known when the Moriarty tribunal will deal with Mr Lowry's finances. That inquiry is likely to be a lot less complicated than the examination of Mr Haughey's finances.

Like Mr Haughey, Mr Lowry is facing tax assessments arising out of the McCracken tribunal. Mr Haughey had a capital acquisitions tax assessment reduced to zero on technical grounds when he appealed it to a Revenue Appeals Commissioner. The case is now going to the Circuit Court. It is understood Mr Lowry's tax affairs may not be finalised until after the work of the Moriarty tribunal is completed.