Three accounts of former minister are discovered

The Flood tribunal has discovered three accounts of Mr Ray Burke, two of them offshore, which the former minister had previously failed to disclose.

The three held funds totalling over £37,000 in the 1970s, when Mr Burke's declared income ranged between £3,500 and £9,500 a year.

Mr Burke, who said he had no recollection of the accounts, said the money came from the sale of his insurance business and fees earned on house sales by his estate agency, P.J. Burke (Sales) Ltd.

He acknowledged giving incorrect information to the tribunal when it asked him last May whether he had any accounts with Bank of Ireland outside the State.

His lawyers wrote to the tribunal saying he did not. However, the tribunal later discovered that he did have a number of such accounts dating from the 1970s.

One, held in Manchester between 1974 and 1977, was disclosed to the tribunal only last week, Ms Patricia Dillon SC, for the tribunal, said. The closing balance was almost £15,000.

He also had £5,000 with a Bank of Ireland-related company, Foster Finance Northern Ireland, between 1971 and 1972. This account, which was also not disclosed to the tribunal, was operated through the bank's branch in Whitehall, Dublin. Mr Burke described this as "an interest-gathering exercise". He said he had no recollection of the accounts at the time. It was all done through the bank in Whitehall.

"I did not tell the tribunal of accounts of which I had no recollection going back 25 years in one case, and 30 years in another case," he said.

Ms Dillon pointed out that Mr Burke's income from his estate agency was £3,000 in 1973. During that year he was also elected to the Dβil, where his salary for the year was £215.

The tribunal has also discovered that Mr Burke held a joint account with his father, Mr Paddy Burke, at this time. In 1973 this account held £17,500.

In July 2000, after the tribunal wrote asking if he had any such joint accounts, his lawyers said Mr Burke had disclosed all the accounts he had "worldwide".

Earlier, Ms Dillon asked the witness about a sum of £15,000 sterling which he withdrew from his account in the Isle of Man in April 1985. Mr Burke had originally said he relodged this money 10 days later in Jersey, but the tribunal later discovered that the Jersey money came from a separate source, the builders Brennan and McGowan.

Yesterday Mr Burke said he used the £15,000 to fund his campaign during the local elections in 1985.

It was a very expensive election, he said, and he did not have any receipts from the period.