AIB:The Moriarty tribunal has described as "disingenuous in the extreme" a written response by Allied Irish Bank in which it denied newspaper claims that it was owed £1 million by the late taoiseach Charles Haughey.
The bank was responding to an article published in the Evening Pressnewspaper on January 28th, 1983, in which it was suggested that Mr Haughey had owed the bank £1 million in the previous year.
In its response, published three days later, the bank said the claims made in the article were "so outlandishly inaccurate" that it felt bound "to say so positively and authoritatively".
It is now known that upon becoming taoiseach in 1979, Mr Haughey owed the bank £1.143 million and that the article was only incorrect as to the relevant year.
In its report today, the tribunal said "for the bank to have described it [the article] as outlandishly inaccurate was disingenuous in the extreme.
"It may reasonably be said that the content of the press release reflected an appreciable degree of sensitivity on the part of the bank in relation to the disposal of Mr Haughey's indebtedness, and that the course taken in issuing the press release is confirmatory of the fact that Mr Haughey's office as taoiseach impacted on the settlement," the tribunal concluded.
Mr Haughey had accumulated the debt through personal and household expenditures during the preceding nine years.
A settlement between AIB and Mr Haughey was reached in January 1980 under which terms the debit balance with the bank was agreed at £860,000.
The deal allowed Mr Haughey pay £750,000 later that year, with the balance of £110,000 being permitted to stand interest-free on the books of the bank - to be paid "within a reasonable period of time".
But the tribunal found that the balance of £110,000 was never discharged by Mr Haughey and the bank never requested payment.
The report concluded AIB "took no action whatsoever to curb Mr Haughey's mounting indebtedness, or to recover the debt which he owed.
"On the contrary, the Bank exhibited a marked deference in its attitude to Mr Haughey, and a disinclination to address or control his excesses as a banking customer which had accumulated over several years, and which became increasingly pronounced when he was appointed a Government Minister in 1977.
"The tribunal is of the opinion that the degree of forbearance shown by Allied Irish Banks in the settlement concluded with Mr Haughey in January, 1980, constituted an indirect payment, or benefit equivalent to a payment."
The tribunal found that of the £750,000 paid by Mr Haughey to AIB in settlement of his indebtedness, £300,000.00 was provided by the late Patrick Gallagher who was then managing director of the Gallagher group of companies.
The remaining £450,000 was funded from an account in the Guinness & Mahon bank held by the late Des Traynor.
