The Taoiseach last night forcefully denied a new allegation made at the Mahon tribunal yesterday that he was paid £80,000 in the early 1990s to block a tax break for a shopping centre in Blanchardstown.
The tribunal heard yesterday that developer Tom Gilmartin has claimed his one-time business partner Owen O'Callaghan told him he had paid Mr Ahern, who was minister for finance at the time.
He says Mr Ahern was "instrumental" in blocking tax designation for the Blanchardstown centre.
However, a spokeswoman for the Taoiseach last night repeated that he had never received money from Owen O'Callaghan, either directly or through intermediaries.
"It is a fact which was established by the Circuit Court in legal proceedings which the Taoiseach was required to take to clear his good name in response to allegations made by Mr Denis 'Starry' O'Brien," the spokeswoman said.
In July 2001 the Taoiseach was awarded a maximum £30,000 in damages in the Circuit Court in the wake of Mr O'Brien's allegations. The judge described the allegation that he had accepted a £50,000 bribe from a developer in return for planning favours as "utterly, completely and absolutely false and untrue".
The Taoiseach's spokeswoman said last night that Mr Ahern "has lately become aware that Mr Tom Gilmartin made very similar allegations to those disproven in court. Like Mr O'Brien, Mr Gilmartin has alleged that the Taoiseach received a large amount of money from Mr O'Callaghan. Like Mr O'Brien, Mr Gilmartin made these allegations in the period 1998-2000. Like Mr O'Brien's allegations, Mr Gilmartin's allegations are utterly false."
Details of Mr Gilmartin's fresh allegation were made public at the Mahon tribunal yesterday by Patricia Dillon SC, who was concluding her opening statement to the module of the tribunal dealing with the rezoning of land at Quarryvale. At the time of the alleged incident, Mr Gilmartin and Mr O'Callaghan were developing a massive shopping centre at Quarryvale in west Dublin, while Green Property was developing a rival centre at Blanchardstown, she said.
Green was lobbying for its project to be awarded the same tax designation previously given to The Square in Tallaght, a move that would have seriously affected Quarryvale's prospects.
Mr Ahern met the managing director of Green Property, John Corcoran, and Mr O'Callaghan separately in 1993 and 1994 but has no recollection of discussing tax designation with either party, the tribunal heard.
Ms Dillon said that in his evidence, Mr Ahern would deny ever receiving money in relation to the matter. Mr O'Callaghan also denies any wrongdoing and specifically denies making any payment to Mr Ahern, counsel told the tribunal.