Lawlor still considering an appeal, sources say

Former Fianna Fail TD Mr Liam Lawlor is still considering an appeal against the High Court's decision to order him to appear before the Flood tribunal.

Mr Lawlor's counsel, Mr John Rogers SC, went through the typed judgment "line by line" yesterday, according to sources close to the Dublin West TD.

Meanwhile, Mr Lawlor's assertion on Tuesday that the £74,000 he received from National Toll Roads was a "political contribution" contradicts information received by the tribunal that the money was paid for reports written for the company.

NTR declined to comment yesterday, saying it was a matter for the tribunal. However, it is believed the company has told the tribunal that Mr Lawlor wrote a number of reports on the economics of road-tolling for the company about 10 years ago.

The report of Fianna Fail's committee on standards in public life, published last June, makes no reference to any payments from NTR. Party sources were adamant yesterday that Mr Lawlor never mentioned the payments to the committee.

If, as Mr Lawlor stated, the payments were political contributions, it is difficult to see why they were not brought to the attention of the committee, which was set up to inquire "whether Fianna Fail councillors were in receipt of donations from Frank Dunlop and/or developers".

Mr Lawlor said last night the matter did not arise in the context of the Fianna Fail inquiry as NTR had nothing to do with planning. On the other hand, if the money was paid for reports, the payment would be liable for tax and VAT.

In 1998, when Mr Lawlor first acknowledged that he had been paid £3,500 a month for three or four months by Mr Tom Gilmartin in the late 1980s, he first said there were "consultancy fees". Later, however, he insisted the payments were "contributions" from Mr Gilmartin.

In a statement issued at the time, he said he would be consulting his accountant to ensure that he had "fully complied with the tax aspect" of these payments.