Flynn gave £50,000 to his wife, Mahon hears

Mr Pádraig Flynn has claimed he did not know his wife Dorothy had lodged a £50,000 cheque he received from builder Mr Tom Gilmartin in a non-resident account.

The former EU commissioner and minister for the environment told the planning tribunal this morning he received the cheque in May 1989 as a "political contribution". It was the largest contribution he was given in his career.

Mr Gilmartin said the money was intended for Fianna Fáil, but it never made it into the party coffers.

Mr Flynn told Ms Patricia Dillon, SC for the tribunal, that on receiving the cheque, he put it in his pocket, brought it back to Castlebar, and then gave it to his wife.

Bank records obtained by the tribunal show the cheque was lodged into an account in the Allied Irish Bank in Castlebar. This account was opened by Mrs Flynn in February 1986 in both of the couple's names.

Mrs Flynn used an address in Northumberland Road, Chiswick, London, to open the account. A total of £94,000 was deposited in this account between 1987 and 1989.

Mr Flynn accepted today neither he nor his wife had ever lived at this address. "So this was a bogus non-resident account?" asked Ms Dillon.

"It was an external UK account," Mr Flynn said.

The former Mayo TD insisted he was not aware it had been opened by wife, nor did he ask her to lodge the £50,000 in this account. When he found out in the early 1990s it had been opened he asked for it to be closed, the tribunal heard.

"Did you never wonder what happened to the £50,000?" the tribunal chairman, Judge Alan Mahon, asked.

"No," answered Mr Flynn.

"Did you never ask your wife what happened to it?"

"No."

"Did you not receive bank statements in reference to this account?"

"Not that I'm aware of," said Mr Flynn

"So what did you think had happened to it?"

"We never discussed it as such."

Mr Mahon said he found it "puzzling" that Mr Flynn never asked his wife what had happened to cheque, which was almost equivalent to his annual salary of £51,873 and on which he knew income tax was not going to be paid.

Mr Flynn insisted that because it was a political contribution, it was tax-free. "As you know, tax was later paid on it."

An income tax declaration signed by both Flynns was shown to the tribunal this morning. It states they were the beneficiaries of this account and both non-residents.

Mr Flynn accepts his signature was on the document, but disputed AIB's assertion it was signed in 1989 or 1990. He says it was signed later, perhaps some time after he became an EU Commissioner in 1993.