Foley on tax defaulter list over Ansbacher

Before January 2000, the then Kerry Fianna Fáil TD Denis Foley was an anonymous backbencher, whose only national prominence was as deputy chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, which had concluded a high-profile and successful public hearings into the DIRT scandal.

Yesterday Mr Foley, now retired from politics for nearly three years, found himself among a list of tax defaulters, because of his exposure in January 2000 as the holder of an Ansbacher off-shore account.

A TD from 1981, Mr Foley was a teetotal businessman from a modest background and had done well in the entertainment business in Tralee and north Kerry.

He continued as a TD until the 2002 general election, his final two years in politics spent in relative humiliation. In late January 2000, it emerged that Mr Foley was part of the Ansbacher scheme, and had a secret offshore account with the bank since 1979.

The scheme was first revealed by the McCracken Tribunal in 1997 and was also the subject of an official investigation by High Court-appointed inspectors.

In February 2002, Mr Foley found himself before the Moriarty Tribunal to explain how he was involved in the scheme and did not declare he was an account holder until his name was discovered by tribunal investigators.

A ballroom manager and businessman in Tralee during the 1960s and 1970s, Mr Foley said he had amassed £50,000 in undeclared income by the late 1970s.

He gave the money in bank drafts to Des Traynor, Charles Haughey's accountant, who was credited as the creator of the Ansbacher scheme.

By late 1999, his account had grown to £135,000. During questioning at the Moriarty Tribunal five years ago, Mr Foley admitted he was aware he may have been an Ansbacher account holder when the scandal first unfolded, but did nothing about it until late 1999 when he was contacted by the tribunal, which had found his name on a secret list of account holders.

He said the reason for his failure to declare the deposit was because he was "in denial".

"I was still hoping against hope I wasn't in Ansbacher," he told the tribunal.

Following the tribunal hearings, Mr Foley was suspended from the Dáil for 14 days due to his failure to make a declaration to the Dáil when he took part in a vote to establish the Moriarty Tribunal.

He also left the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party but remained a party member.

His daughter, Norma, stood unsuccessfully in the Kerry North constituency in a bid to retain her father's seat. She is a member of Kerry Co Council.

Telephone callers to Mr Foley's home were told he was away and was uncontactable.