Politics

Widow of Brian Lenihan snr demands dossier alleging he had off-shore account

Ann Lenihan says she ‘has no knowledge of account’ and questions PAC’s actions

Ann Lenihan wrote to Richard Bruton demanding access to the dossier and any documents held by his department that allege there is evidence her husband held an offshore bank account to avoid paying tax. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
Ann Lenihan wrote to Richard Bruton demanding access to the dossier and any documents held by his department that allege there is evidence her husband held an offshore bank account to avoid paying tax. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
Tom Lyons
Wed Dec 03 2014 - 01:00

The widow of former tánaiste Brian Lenihan snr wrote to Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton on Monday demanding access to the dossier and any documents held by his department that allege there is evidence her husband held an offshore bank account to avoid paying tax.

Eames Solicitors wrote on behalf of Ann Lenihan that she “has no knowledge of her late husband holding such an account.”

“Our client has received no papers notifying her of the allegations made in respect of her late husband and/or the nature and extent of same,” the letter said.

Eames Solicitors said its client was faced with “extraordinary circumstances” where allegations about Mr Lenihan’s financial affairs have “emanated” from Mr Bruton’s department but she has had to rely on “media reporting” to find out what was going on.

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Offshore accounts

The allegations have been made by Department of Enterprise official

Gerard Ryan

who compiled a dossier which names Mr Lenihan snr and nine other former senior politicians as having secret offshore bank accounts.

He has sent his claims to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to investigate while the department itself has forwarded the dossier to gardaí for examination.

Eames Solicitors said the allegations in relation to Mr Lenihan snr were, in his widow’s view, “entirely groundless, unsubstantiated and false”, and, “in addition to potentially impacting upon her late husband’s estate, [they] could also impact upon our client personally.” She had “serious concerns” about whether the PAC was “acting within its remit”, it said.

Entitlement

The solicitors said

Mrs Lenihan

was entitled to have sight of all papers held by the department in relation to the dossier and asked to be given all such documents by close of business on Wednesday. She “reserves her entitlement” to take the “steps necessary” to protect her interests, it said.

The Department of Enterprise said: “The Minister and the Department are subject to various obligations in respect of this matter, including under the Protected Disclosures Act and the Companies Act 1990 (under which the preliminary inquiries were carried out).”

“It is important to note that the Department is not in possession of the dossier reportedly sent to members of the PAC,” it said. “In any case involving correspondence from legal representatives, it is not normal practice for the Department to comment on such correspondence.”