Dublin Opinion

Mr. Haughey’s sole source of income from 1979 to 1996 was his State entitlements, in the form of his salary (including his ministerial pensions during the years he was leader of the Opposition) from 1979 to 1992, and in the form of his State pension from 1992 to 1996. His gross annual salary ranged from £14,717.00 in 1979 to £75,248.00 in 1992, and following his retirement, his gross pension ranged from £20,442.00 in 1972 to £55,327.50 in 1996, with a lump sum payment in 1993 of £46,219.00. During the entire of those years, Mr. Haughey, while generating relatively modest earnings, lived a conspicuously lavish lifestyle.” (Moriarty Tribunal, Report of the Tribunal of Inquiry into Payments to Politicians and Related Matters, Part 1, 2006, p.549)

- Haughey was paid more than IR£8 million between 1979 and 1986 from various benefactors and businessmen.

- In May 1989 one of Haughey’s lifelong friends Brian Lenihan, a former government minister, underwent a liver transplant which was partly paid for through fundraising by Haughey. The Moriarty tribunal found that, of the £270,000 collected in donations for Brian Lenihan, no more than £70,000 ended up being spent on Lenihan’s medical care. The tribunal identified one specific donation of £20,000 for Lenihan that was surreptitiously appropriated by Haughey, who took steps to conceal this transaction.

- Saudi businessman Mahmoud Fustok paid Haughey £50,000 to support applications for Irish citizenship.

- Haughey arranged meetings between Ben Dunne and civil servant Seamus Pairceir of the Revenue Commissioners. These discussions resulted in an outstanding capital gains tax bill for Dunne being reduced by £22.8 million. Moriarty found that this was “not coincidental”, and that it was a substantial benefit conferred on Dunne by Haughey’s actions.

- Allied Irish Banks settled a million-pound overdraft with Haughey soon after he became Taoiseach in 1979; the tribunal found that the lenience shown by the bank in this case amounted to an indirect payment by the bank to Haughey.

Part II and III of this section, below.