Tribunal of Inquiry Into Certain Planning Matters and Payments

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The Tribunal of Inquiry Into Certain Planning Matters and Payments, commonly known as the Mahon Tribunal in honor of its chairman, and previously as the Flood Tribunal, was established by the Irish Government on November 4, 1997. Its chairman is His Honour Judge Alan P. Mahon and other Members are Her Honour Judge Mary Faherty and His Honour Judge Gerald Keys. Its work is ongoing. The original Chairman, who was the sole Member until soon before his retirement, was His Honour Judge Feargus Flood.

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[edit] Origins: £10,000 Reward

In 1995, Michael Smith, a former chairman of An Taisce and barrister Colm Mac Eochaidh, a Fine Gael candidate in Dublin South East in the 2002 General Election co-sponsored a £10,000 reward[1] for information leading to convictions for planning corruption. There had been several failed Garda inquiries and speculation about extensive planning corruption. This resulted in a sequence of events that resulted in the setting up of the Tribunal.

[edit] Demise of Loughlinstown and Carrickmines

Smith grew up in Loughlinstown, originally a scenic area directly south of Dublin on the road to Wexford. The first dual carriageway in Ireland was sited there. An intensive public relations campaign underpinned with a budget of £800,000 was mounted in 1991 spearheaded by a public relations consultant, Bill O'Herlihy, who is also a well-known sports commentator on RTE television. The campaign related to the zoning of hundreds of acres of land in Loughlinstown and Cabinteely and its purpose was to win the favour of local residents and local interests. Some councillors firmly resisted the rezoning, supposedly concerned about the commercial and social welfare of nearby Dún Laoghaire but are alleged to have ensured that there was sufficient support from colleagues whose political bases were elsewhere. Frank Dunlop became involved the the O'Herlihy campaign stopped. The rezoning was approved and Smith told the Tribunal that he saw Fine Gael Teachta Dála and councillor, Olivia Mitchell, kissing a developer following approval by Dublin County Council.

Former Fianna Fáil politician Liam Lawlor was presented at a public meeting concerning nearby Cherrywood as his party's 'planning expert'.

[edit] James Gogarty

James Gogarty, a former Garda and building company executive responded to the offer and stated that he witnessed a bribe of £30,000 being paid in cash to Ray Burke a cabinet minister and former Chairman of Dublin County Council to use his influence to secure approval to rezone 726 acres of land at several locations in north Dublin, inclusing Finglas, Ballymun, Balgriffen, Portmarnock and Donabate. Gogarty had felt a deep-seated grievance against his former long-term employers, Joseph Murphy Structural Engineers (JSME). The lands in questions were the subject of a joint development involving JMSE, Michael Bailey, his brother Tom Bailey.

[edit] Ray Burke : Corrupt

The Tribunal's inquiries between 1997 and 2002 comprised what were in effect 3 Public Inquiries, that covered topics as diverse as land rezoning, radio broadcasting and offshore trusts and corporations. The extent of the inquiries were dictated by the Terms of Reference which obliged the Tribunal to investigate substantial payments to Ray Burke in the course of his long political career.

The Tribunal reported in September 2002 that the payments received by Burke amounted to corrupt payments. The Report also cited witnesses who obstructed and hindered its work over the prior five years.[2]

  • Burke did not purchase his home, Briargate, in 1973 as a normal commercial transaction but a benefit conferred to ensure that Burke would act in the best interests of Oakpark Developments when performing his public duties.
  • Burke opened and maintained offshore bank accounts in the Isle of Man for the purpose of receiving and concealing corrupt payments.
  • Burke received a corrupt payment of £35,000 on May 26, 1989 in connection with the granting of a broadcasting license to Century Radio.
  • The payment to Burke on June 15, 1989 which James Gogarty witnessed was not a political donation but was paid to secure Burke's political support and was a corrupt payment

[edit] Tribunal Tax Yield

The Tribunal had cost the State €21 million by 2002 but €34.5 million was recovered by the Revenue Commissioners and the Criminal Assets Bureau.

The Bailey brothers and their company, Bovale Developments reached a settlement with the Revenue Commissioners in respect of PAYE, PRSI, Corporation Tax and Income Tax in 2006.

[edit] George Redmond

George Redmond was Assistant City and County Manager at Dublin Corporation in 1988. A planning application had been lodged with Dublin County Council on October 1, 1982 to build 206 houses at Forrest Road Swords. A 5-year Planning Permission was approved.

James Gogarty deposed on October 12, 1998 that Redmond had received payments from Mr Joseph Murphy. The Tribunal investigated these payments and concluded.[3]:

  • That Redmond devised a strategy which resulted in the service charge and levies payable upon the development of lands at Forrest Road being fixed at their 1983 level for a period of two years after the expiry of the Planning Permission on June 21, 1988
  • Redmond demanded 10% of the savings achieved by following his strategy as payment for his services
  • If a new planning application was made without his assistance, the service charges and levies would be fixed at least 100% more than those fixed in 1983.
  • That Redmond received a payment of no less than £12,246 for his service from Murphy and this was a corrupt payment
  • Murphy paid Redmond £15,000 at Clontarf Castle Hotel in July 1989 as compensation for not appointing him as a consultant to the Murphy landowning companies after his retirement from Dublin County Council but this was not a corrupt payment
  • Michael Bailey made 3 cash payments to Redmond in the 18 months prior to July 1989 and these were corrupt payments.
  • That Redmond hindered and obstructed the Tribunal

[edit] Other Modules

The Tribunal is authorised to examine planning and rezoning decisions in other Dublin locations. These are defined by discrete modules:

Interim Reports are expected from time to time.

[edit] Criminal Assets Bureau Investigation

The Criminal Assets Bureau successfully obtained a High Court order on July 26, 2006 freezing land assets of 107 acres at Carrickmines, County Dublin owned by Jackson Way Properties Ltd and preventing their sale[5]. CAB contended that these lands had been rezoned by a 13 - 11 vote on December 16, 1997 by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council from agricultural to industrial after Frank Dunlop bribed and made corrupt payments to councillors to secure their support in the rezoning vote. That vote, for example, increased the value of just 17 acres of the property from €8 million to €61 million. CAB has interviewed and took statements from Frank Dunlop and will use him as a witness against a number of property developers.

The lands in question have been the subject of investigation by The Mahon Tribunal in 2003 and 2004.

If this case succeeds the potential money realised by CAB will be substantially more than the yield from gangland criminals since 1996. Other similar cases are likely to ensue involving lands investigated by The Mahon Tribunal.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Callanan, Neil. "Man with a plan", The Sunday Business Post, 2002-10-06. Retrieved on August 11, 2006.
  2. ^ http://www.flood-tribunal.ie/images/Report.pdf
  3. ^ http://www.flood-tribunal.ie/images/SITECONTENT_219.pdf
  4. ^ Witness Schedule as of 31st July 2006. The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters & Payments. Retrieved on August 11, 2006.
  5. ^ "CAB blocks sale of €60 million parcel at Carrickmines", Irish Independent, 2006-07-27.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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