FF officials failed to investigate #50,000 donation to former minister

Two senior Fianna Fáil officials did nothing to investigate Mr Tom Gilmartin's £50,000 donation to former minister Mr Pádraig Flynn beyond ascertaining that the party had not received the money, the tribunal has heard.

The party's chief fund-raiser, Mr Paul Kavanagh, told the tribunal he did not contact Mr Flynn about Mr Gilmartin's claim in 1990 because he did not believe the developer.

The party's former financial controller Mr Seán Fleming,asked by Mr Kavanagh to check if the payment had been made, said he was not told that Mr Flynn was the person to whom the payments were allegedly made. If he had been aware of this, he would have contacted the minister directly.

Mr Gilmartin has told the tribunal in earlier evidence that he gave Mr Flynn a £50,000 cheque, intended for the party, in June 1989. Mr Flynn says the money was given for personal political use.

In late 1990, the developer told the Fianna Fáil national organiser, Mr Seán Sherwin, about the payment and asked for a receipt. Mr Sherwin brought the request to the attention of Mr Kavanagh.

Giving evidence yesterday, Mr Kavanagh agreed that Fianna Fáil had a financial shortfall in this period, but insisted its position was no worse than in previous years.

He said he rarely met Mr Flynn, who held the honorary position of joint national treasurer of Fianna Fáil at this time.

He acknowledged the party experienced difficulties in the late 1980s over reports that ministers were holding on to donations intended for the party. The fundraising committee he headed was concerned at rumours to this effect, but never fully got to the bottom of it.

On one occasion, he tackled a minister about the matter and, when he did not get satisfaction, he went to the taoiseach, Mr Haughey. This was the Fitzwilton donation passed to Mr Ray Burke. (Mr Burke later remitted to headquarters £10,000 of the £30,000 he received from the company.) Mr Kavanagh said this was the only case he could remember where they had "absolute, definite evidence" that money for the party had been "sidelined".

He recalled Mr Sherwin telling him in late 1990 that Mr Gilmartin was looking for a receipt for a donation he claimed to have made to the party through Mr Flynn the previous year. Mr Kavanagh said he immediately thought the claim was odd. There wasn't any £50,000 "lying around" and it was by then 1½ years after the election.

After Mr Fleming confirmed that no such donation had been received, he went back to Mr Sherwin and told the official there did not seem to be "anything" in the claim.

Mr Kavanagh said he made a judgment that the claim was not "credible" and that there was only "flimsy" evidence for it. He also bore in mind the fact that Mr Flynn had previously offered to help him seek contributions from potential donors.

On this basis, he said, he was not going to "tackle" Mr Flynn on the matter. In any case, Mr Gilmartin, by persisting in seeking a receipt, could "bring it to a head".

Ms Patricia Dillon SC, for the tribunal, said that, from the information available to Mr Kavanagh, he knew that either Mr Gilmartin was lying or that Mr Flynn had the money.

What information did he have that led him to conclude that Mr Gilmartin was lying? "I made a judgment at the time, based on the facts," the witness replied.

Ms Dillon pointed out that in the case of the Fitzwilton donation, Mr Kavanagh rang the person who received the money, as well as going to the Taoiseach. Mr Kavanagh said counsel was not "comparing apples with apples". In this case, he had facts he could "stand over," so he did not have to go to Mr Haughey with "half-baked ideas".

Ms Dillon said that if the witness did not believe Mr Gilmartin, it followed that the developer was making false allegations against Mr Flynn. Why did not Mr Kavanagh draw this to the politician's attention? The witness replied: "I made a judgment based on the information I had at the time." He now accepted he was incorrect about Mr Gilmartin.