Lawyers claim Burke given present of house

Flood Tribunal lawyers have said that large payments to Ray Burke by builder Tom Brennan were personal gifts and not political donations. The lawyers also said that all evidence uncovered to date suggested that the former Fianna Fáil minister had been given a present of a site and house by a company owned by Mr Brennan rather than a political donation.

After weeks of questioning on the issue, Mr Brennan has failed to produce any documentary evidence of any payment for the house. Counsel for the Tribunal, Pat Hanratty, said this morning that they could only conclude that the house was given for free.

Mr Brennan has denied this. Detailed company accounts, which were produced for a revenue investigation in the early 1970s, show no record of a payment for the house at Swords in North County Dublin.

The chairman of the Tribunal earlier gave one final chance to the builders Tom Brennan and Joe McGowan to comply with orders for discovery of documents. The records relate to their business affairs abroad.

Mr Justice Flood said in a ruling this morning that both men were in serious breach of the orders to date. He said that it seemed to be a feature of the process that each time he warned of High Court proceedings more documents were produced.

However, he has directed counsel for the Tribunal to issue a final list of outstanding documents for the witnesses to supply. The Tribunal also heard that the auctioneer John Finnegan is also in serious breach of orders for discovery. The chairman said that Mr Finnegan would be questioned about this when he takes the witness stand.

In a separate development, the High Court has begun hearing judicial review proceedings taken by Mr Finnegan. Mr Finnegan is challenging the procures of the Tribunal, alleging that it has acted beyond its powers in its investigation of his affairs in relation to certain companies alleged to have made payments to Mr Burke.

He also alleges that his constitutional rights have been infringed by the procedures of the Tribunal. He is seeking a number of declarations to restrict the scope of the Tribunal investigation.