MR Noel Fox, a trustee of the Dunnes Settlement Trust, told the other members of the family of Mr Ben Dunne's alleged payments to Mr Haughey when this emerged in 1994 as evidence in legal proceedings, the tribunal was told. At this time Mr Dunne was seeking to have the trust broken up.
Mrs Heffernan told the tribunal that when she asked Mr Fox about the alleged payments after first hearing the rumours, and later when Mr Irwin told her about them, Mr Fox was non committal about the matter.
She agreed with Mr Denis McCullough, counsel for the tribunal, that, although Mr Fox had been a close associate of her brother, Ben, he stayed with the company when Mr Dunne left in 1993.
Mrs Heffernan raised the matter with Mr Fox after her first meeting with Mr Haughey. Asked what he said, she replied: "I can't remember. I would probably have been very heated. I can get very heated."
Mr McCullough asked: "Would that have prevented Mr Fox from speaking?" She replied: "It would, sir. My annoyance was that £1 million of Dunnes Stores money would have gone to anyone."
At this time, she said, she was very confused, but unconvinced that Mr Haughey did not get it. When asked Mr Fox did not confirm or deny it. Asked if this put him in the same position as Mr Haughey, she replied: "I would not have doubted Mr Fox." Then the legal proceedings developed with her brother and he gave details of giving Mr Haughey more than £1 million.
Asked if Mr Fox had said anything to her of his knowledge of these payments, she said: "No, sir."
Later, she explained that this had emerged because of the action her brother took seeking to have the trust broken. Part of his action was that money had been paid out with the consent of the trustees, which should not have been paid. Asked with whose consent, Ben said with Mr Fox's.
When asked about it, Mr Fox said "he had gone to Bernard because Mr Haughey was in financial trouble". Ben said not to worry about the others, that he would look after it. He asked Mr Fox to ring Matt Price in Bangor.
Asked if Mr Fox told her at this stage about the other payments, she said: "No."
"When did Mr Fox tell you there were other payments?" Mr McCullough asked. "Never."
Mrs Heffernan said she was not aware of the evidence Mr Fox had given to the tribunal earlier in the week. When the question of the full amount of the payments came out, she said Mr Fox told her Mr Traynor contacted him and said Mr Haughey required money and gave him particulars of the amounts and the bank accounts.