An associate of Mr Ben Dunne's from the time after he left Dunnes Stores may have had work worth up to £1 million carried out on his home, proceedings at Naas District Court heard yesterday.

Mr George Maloney, the authorised officer appointed by the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, to Faxhill Homes Ltd, told the court of dealings concerning Mr Denis McCoy.

He found documents in the Faxhill files indicating that work had been carried out on Mr McCoy's home, but could not find the related invoice. He said he was told the company did not always issue invoices, especially in cases where the customer was not registered for VAT.

A document on the files indicated work on Mr McCoy's home worth £55,000 in 1996. Mr Maloney said he had asked questions about the work and was told it was refurbishment work and was "a small job".

However, Mr Maloney went on to say that it had also been said to him on another occasion that it was "a very large amount of work" and could have cost between £500,000 and £1 million. He did not expand on the point and it was not returned to.

The authorised officer said the documents on the company's file led him to the conclusion that it was not possible for him to satisfy himself as to the total value of the transaction.

The court heard that £55,000 was lodged to the Faxhill account but it was not told where the money came from. Mr Maloney's terms of reference charged him to investigate transactions involving Faxhill Homes and Dunnes Stores or persons associated with that group.

Mr McCoy is a former senior executive of Fyffes fruit importers, who left that company in 1993 and sought to establish a rival business with Mr Dunne. The new company would have competed with Fyffes, which was a major distributor of fruit to Dunnes Stores. The Faxhill work was carried out on Mr McCoy's home on Carpenterstown Road, Castleknock, Co Dublin, the same road on which Mr Dunne lives. Mr McCoy could not be contacted last night.

The Moriarty tribunal heard evidence from Mr Dunne last year that he was accompanied to a lunch at Mr Charles Haughey's home in Kinsealy, Co Dublin by Mr McCoy in May 1993. Mr Dunne was recovering from a cocaine problem at the time and was "not stable".

Mr Dunne could not remember giving a cheque for £20,000, made out to cash, to Mr Haughey, but presumed it occurred during the visit.

In November 1996, Mr McCoy was registered as a director of Westpoint Fitness and Raquet Club Ltd, the same day that Mr Dunne was registered as a director of the company. At the time Mr McCoy was a director of six other companies of which Mr Dunne was also a director, including Waterpoint Fitness & Health Centre Ltd.

Mr McCoy was also associated with Faxhill Homes and a related company, Standhouse Hotel Ltd, the Curragh, Co Kildare.

Mr Maloney yesterday said he was told Mr McCoy was a "consultant" to Standhouse. He was told by Mr Ross Carr, accountant to Faxhill Homes, that Mr McCoy was "the boss".