A prominent builder has denied that the reason he borrowed money for a land deal was to avoid coming to the attention of the Revenue Commissioners.
Mr Joe Tiernan, a former Fine Gael election candidate, said yesterday he could have raised the £110,000 deposit on the deal himself in 1989 but chose to borrow in order to "share the risk".
Last week, tribunal lawyers pointed out that, shortly before he paid the deposit, Mr Tiernan had made a settlement with the Revenue. He could therefore not afford to be seen by them as a person who had ready access to funds because this would be incompatible with the size of the settlement.
The real reason Mr Tiernan had borrowed the money from a businessman, Mr Robin Rennicks, was that, if he used his own money, the Revenue might re-examine the terms of his settlement, Mr Des O'Neill SC, for the tribunal, claimed.
Mr Tiernan rejected this, saying Mr Rennicks was brought on board to share the risk. The investment, in the purchase of 55 acres of land at Coolamber, near Lucan, was not a guaranteed venture and could have ended in disaster.
The tribunal is currently investigating the involvement of the former Fianna Fáil TD, Mr Liam Lawlor, solicitor Mr John Caldwell and businessman Mr Jim Kennedy in the Coolamber deal.
In 1987 Southfield Property Company, a company linked to the three men, paid £208,000 for the land and agreed to sell it on with planning permission to Mr Tiernan for over £2 million.
Yesterday Mr Tiernan told counsel that, while he did not have the £110,000 deposit in Irish accounts, he could access it from his overseas funds. These were held with Bedell Cristin, a Jersey firm of lawyers which also claimed the former minister, Mr Ray Burke, and builders Brennan and McGowan among its clients.
He said Mr Caldwell had set up this arrangement for him in the mid-1980s. He terminated it five or six years later and didn't have any offshore funds today.
He did, however, have an account in Spain, where he now lives. Asked about the funding of his house in Spain in the mid-1990s, Mr Tiernan said some of this money came from his Irish accounts and some from his account with Isle of Man Bank Ltd.
Mr Tiernan said he agreed to give Mr Rennicks a 25 per cent stake in the land in return for his loan; Mr Rennicks has told the tribunal he was due a 50 per cent stake. However, in 1994 Mr Tiernan repaid Mr Rennicks the sum, without interest or bonuses.
Asked why he hadn't given any more money to reflect Mr Rennicks's share in the deal, Mr Tiernan said £110,000 was the sum agreed.
In 1990 Dublin county councillors rezoned the Coolmine lands, but this was overturned by the High Court and An Bord Pleanála the next year. Mr Tiernan wrote to Mr Caldwell seeking a two-year extension in the contract. In his letter, he told Mr Caldwell it would now take "an almighty effort" to get rezoning because of the "past history" of the lands.
Mr Caldwell initially refused, but eventually a new contract was drawn up under which Mr Tiernan agreed to pay almost £3 million. The lands were subsequently rezoned and built upon.
