BERTIE AHERN was the Dublin Central constituency treasurer's source of information about the so-called "BT account", the Mahon tribunal heard yesterday.
Dominic Dillane, treasurer of the Dublin Central constituency since 2001, said he did not see a statement for the account until the last few weeks "in the context of the tribunal's inquiries".
The BT account was set up by St Luke's trustee Tim Collins in June 1989 in the Irish Permanent Building Society. Mr Collins was the sole signatory on the account and described it as a "sinking fund" to be used to pay off any debts associated with St Luke's, Mr Ahern's constituency office, after Mr Ahern retired.
The current balance on the BT account is in excess of €47,000, the tribunal was told, and a further €49,000 is to be transferred to it on foot of the repayment of Celia Larkin's loan.
The tribunal had suggested that BT stood for Bertie and Tim, although Mr Collins insisted that it stood for building trust.
Mr Dillane, a lecturer and former union treasurer at the Dublin Institute of Technology, said shortly after he was appointed as Fianna Fáil constituency treasurer, he had a private meeting with Mr Ahern in St Luke's.
He had been out canvassing for the party the Saturday after he was appointed, he said, and when he returned to the Drumcondra office, he was called into the back room to speak to the Taoiseach.
He said Mr Ahern told him about the BT account, that it was a "sinking fund" for St Luke's with a balance of roughly £35,000 and that £30,000 from it had been loaned to a staff member.
Counsel for the tribunal Henry Murphy SC asked him why the Taoiseach would come to him and explain about the account.
"He is the main, the principal TD in the area. He would be very much associated with St Luke's," Mr Dillane responded.
"How would he have known anything about the accounts? He wasn't on the house committee?" Mr Murphy asked.
"No, but I suppose he was aware of what was happening on it," Mr Dillane said.
He subsequently reported to six constituency agms and mentioned the BT account, he said, but did not give its balance and did not seek statements from the bank.
Judge Gerald Keyes asked if Mr Dillane had ever told the meetings about the outstanding loan.
"Not that I'm aware of," Mr Dillane said. He said that, perhaps in hindsight, he should have told them.
"You didn't even need hindsight for that, that's the duties of a treasurer," Judge Keyes said. "I find that extraordinary as a treasurer that you attend six or seven meetings over a seven-year period and at no stage are the people who attend the meeting told what's in the bank account and what's outstanding."
Judge Keyes said the minutes of the agms should have recorded Mr Dillane's oral report and asked him to provide them.
Mr Murphy said the BT account could have been cleared out and Mr Dillane would not have known.
"Look it, it was the Taoiseach that told me, I would believe the Taoiseach, I would believe him to be very honest," Mr Dillane said. "If Mr Collins had done anything with the account, the Taoiseach would have known and he would have told me."
"Are you aware of any document that shows a connection between the BT account and the organisation?" Mr Murphy asked.
"I'm not, I suppose," Mr Dillane said.
JJ Murphy, deputy treasurer of the Dublin Central constituency since 2005, told the tribunal that when he was briefed by Mr Dillane about the BT account on his appointment, it was explained to him that Mr Collins was the sole signatory.
However, Mr Murphy pointed out that Mr Dillane told the tribunal he didn't know Mr Collins was the sole signatory. Mr Murphy said he never knew the BT account's balance. "I was the second treasurer and my work was basically out canvassing," he said.
