Dublin council's operations were 'dysfunctional'

Former minister of state Eithne Fitzgerald has said that Dublin County Council operated in a totally dysfunctional manner in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She said that the system appeared to be developer-driven and under the influence of a number of key people.

Giving evidence at the Mahon tribunal yesterday, Ms Fitzgerald, who served as a Labour Party councillor for over 15 years, said meetings of the council on development issues were chaotic, with people coming and going all the time.

She said that councillors having a drink in the nearby Conway's pub would be sent for when there was a vote. She said the then Fianna Fáil whip on the council, Pat Dunne, would stand at the chamber's door, counting the members entering through it.

"When the numbers were not there, harmless business would be taken. Pat Dunne would stand at the door and count the numbers and then give a nod to the chair. Sometimes a vote would be called mid-sentence when they had the numbers," she said.

Ms Fitzgerald said that the timing of meetings was arranged in such a way that there was a very differential turnout, which gave an effective majority to those in favour of rezonings.

She said meetings were held in the morning or afternoon and only members who were retired or who could leave work early were able to attend on a regular basis.

She said that councillors entering the council offices had to "run the gamut" of developers and lobbyists in the hall.

"You had to put your head down and charge," she said.

Ms Fitzgerald said that on being elected as a councillor she was "horrified" to find her home "besieged by developers, fellows in Jags and pinstripes looking for bits of their land to be rezoned". She said that it was "open season" when it came to the council considering maps.

"Anything that was coloured white was considered as virgin territory that people would seek to colonise by proposing rezoning," she said.

Ms Fitzgerald said that while the council was dysfunctional, the comings and goings were totally transparent and were clear to anyone in the chamber.

She said that it seemed that the system was driven by what developers were looking for and not what was in the best interest of the people of Dublin.

Ms Fitzgerald said that while she had heard rumours of money changing hands between developers and councillors, she never saw it.

The tribunal is investigating the rezoning of land owned by Monarch Properties at Cherrywood in south Dublin in the 1990s. Ms Fitzgerald said that there was visible expenditure by the company as part of a campaign to have the land rezoned.

However, she said she could not recall a quote attributed to her in an interview with The Irish Times at the time that Monarch had told her that it was prepared to spend £100,000 (€146,275) to bring pressure to bear on councillors to rezone the land. She said that she had not received donations from the company.