DUNNES Stores said last night it would not be commenting on reports it had paid just under £208,000 towards restoring and extending Mr Lowry's Tipperary home.
"These are private transactions and we don't talk about private transactions," a spokesman said.
The company established an inquiry into the matter when it emerged that payments made in early 1993 were noted down as being for work done on the Ilac Centre in Dublin, while it was elsewhere indicated that the payments were in respect of work carried out on the Minister's home.
Work on Mr Lowry's home and on the Ilac Centre had been carried out in 1992 and early 1993 by Faxhill Homes, contractors, of Newbridge, Co Kildare.
Architects Peter Stevens & Associates, of Sandymount, Dublin, were involved in both schemes. Mr Peter Stevens was not available for comment last night.
Mr Jack Tierne, of Faxhill Homes Ltd, told The Irish Times he could not remember who had paid him for the work on Mr Lowry's home. The work on the Ilac Centre had been carried out at approximately the same time, but not precisely at the same time, he said.
Mr Tierney's company was paid in stages for its work, submitting invoices to the architects. It is understood there were three payments made for the work on Mr Lowry's home, the third and final cheque being for £76,674. This final cheque was signed solely by Mr Ben Dunne, then chairman of Dunnes Stores, according to a source.
Mr Lowry has had a long association with Dunnes Stores through his family company, Streamline Enterprises Ltd, which services the refrigerators in Dunnes Stores outlets in Munster.
Mr Lowry's brother, Mr Pat Lowry, managing director of Streamline, was not available for comment yesterday. He was not at work due to a family bereavement, a company spokeswoman said.
Streamline does a substantial amount of business with Dunnes Stores.
A source close to Dunnes Stores said it was not company policy to engage in "contra deals", whereby goods or services are swapped between two enterprises. "The company gets millions of pounds in cash in through the tills and it pays suppliers in cash and that's the Way we do business."
However, the source said that Mr Ben Dunne, up to his leaving; the position of executive chairman of Dunnes Stores in March, 1993, sometimes took independent business initiatives on behalf of the organisation. In some cases the rest of the board might not be aware of these initiatives, according to the source. Mr Ben Dunne could not be contacted for comment.
It was not clear last night whether the rest of the board in 1992 and early 1993 was aware of the company's or Mr Ben Dunne's involvement in any deal linked to the renovation and extension of Mr Lowry's house. Nor was it clear when the inquiry into the payments for the work on Mr Lowry's home was initiated.
The executive chairwoman of Dunnes Stores, Ms Margaret Heffernan, was out of the country yesterday and representatives of the company said they were unable to make contact with her.
