A cheque for £50,000 which the tribunal had been told was an additional payment to the cost of buying the Murphy lands, was used for the farming expenses of Mr Thomas Bailey, the tribunal was told.
Mr Bailey was asked what the £50,000 cheque, dated September 7th, 1990, was used for and he replied: "Farming expenses". Mr John Gallagher SC, for the tribunal, said the cheque was referred to in the accounts of Bovale as an addition of £50,000 for the cost of acquiring the Murphy lands by Bovale.
It was described as an additional expenditure over and above the £230,000 deposit on the Murphy lands, produced in the accounts prepared by the Bovale accountant, Mr Joseph O'Toole.
Mr Gallagher said Mr O'Toole had said in evidence that he had been told the £50,000 was an additional sum spent in acquiring the Murphy lands and was paid to solicitors, Smith Foy & Partners. They were now told it was drawn by Ms Caroline Bailey in favour of AIB Ltd and lodged to the farm account of herself and her husband, Mr Thomas Bailey.
Mr Bailey said he did not give Mr O'Toole any explanation as to what the cheque was for. He said he did not recall Mr O'Toole asking him about it.
Mr Gallagher said that Mr O'Toole had said he had asked and was told it was paid to the solicitors. Mr Bailey said: "If that's what he was told at the time, I don't know."
Asked if he accepted that Mr O'Toole was told that at the time, Mr Bailey said: "Did he say who told him?"
Mr Bailey said that since 1986 he had been living in Meath. He bred Suffolk sheep and cattle. He now had 185 acres. In 1989 he had 60 sheep. He gave £58,000 for 16 sheep. "And I bought a stock ram the same year (1989) as well for £10,000 sterling and I've given as much as 94,000 punts for a sheep," he said.
Asked about his sources of income in 1989-90-91, Mr Bailey said he was getting a wage from the company and from the farm. He would also get some extras for houses. People got an extra bit of tiling in a bathroom and there would be an extra bit of money, £100.
Mr Bailey said he would also get £10,000 to £15,000 for an extension, but that would be very rare, possibly once or twice on a site. The majority of his income would be in the accounts.
Later Mr Gallagher told the tribunal that the AIB had contacted the tribunal at lunchtime to say there were a number of additional accounts which they had inadvertently failed to disclose to the tribunal. He would ask, therefore, that further questioning of Mr Bailey be deferred.
The chairman adjourned the tribunal until Monday when it is expected Mr Joseph Murphy jnr will give evidence.