Lawlor used fictitious firms for fake invoices

Mr Liam Lawlor has admitted he had a list of fictitious companies through which he issued fake invoices to people who had given him "political donations".

The former Fianna Fáil Dublin West TD told the Mahon tribunal he used at least eight different company names to disguise these payments.

There were so many that he said he could not always remember which one he used on each particular occasion.

"After discussions with persons, they would agree to make contributions and would ask for an invoice to cover their records," Mr Lawlor explained. He would then issue a false invoice for "advice" or consultations and send it to them.

He admitted that in many cases, the political contribution "wasn't correct" and his methods "weren't always kosher" and were "sometimes far from perfect". However, that was all history, he said, and that it was "just the way it was done".

The donations went towards "the general malaise" of running his office.

Mr O'Neill, SC for the tribunal, accused Mr Lawlor of "systematically" issuing false invoices. The politician had generated invoices "in the names of others" to cover payments that he claimed were for "planning advice" but which he had since acknowledged were political contributions, Mr O'Neill stated.

Mrs Justice Mary Faherty asked Mr Lawlor whether he had ever sent an invoice and not received the money? "No," said Mr Lawlor. Nor, he added, did he need to keep records of who he had sent invoices to, as the list wasn't "extensive" and he could remember them all.

In any case, he said, his office was stuffed with over 6,000 files and he hadn't space for any more records.

Mr Lawlor insists he has written to at least 272 people seeking their help in tracking their records of dealings with him since 1974. Mr O'Neill noted that most of these people received the same circular letter in December 2000. This was insufficient to satisfy the requirements of the tribunal, Mr O'Neill said, because it did not list specific cases.

"If you have problems with that," Mr Lawlor answered. "I can understand that." But it was done under the best available legal advice, he said, and he genuinely didn't see "how the matter could have been advanced better" at the time.

"It was the most extensive list of persons I've made since my confirmation," he said. "Around 80 per cent of them never had a blade of grass or any interest in planning in Dublin".