Former Fianna Fáil TD Mr Liam Lawlor faces the threat of a further spell in prison after tomorrow when the planning tribunal will again accuse him of failing to co-operate with its investigations.
The hearing, the first under new chairman Judge Alan Mahon, could mark the start of a process that will result in Mr Lawlor being jailed for a fourth time. He has already spent six weeks in prison arising from his entanglements with the tribunal.
Last night, a defiant Mr Lawlor insisted he had co-operated fully with the tribunal and called for the appointment of an independent inspector to adjudicate on his treatment by the inquiry.
With the tribunal anxious to put behind it the controversy over the departure of its former chairman Mr Justice Flood, the new chairman plans to resume hearings into payments to politicians on Wednesday.Five sitting or former Dublin county councillors are to be called to give evidence in the next week. The tribunal hasn't sat since May 2nd.
Meanwhile, a source close to Mr Justice Flood confirmed he made his mind up to leave the tribunal last month after his fellow tribunal members warned him that any move to resign as chairman, but stay on as an ordinary member, could undermine the inquiry. Having stated in correspondence that the job could place "undue strain" on him, his decisions might have been open to legal challenge, they believed. His decision came only hours after he told the Attorney General he would stay on to rule on the issue of legal costs.
His original decision to step down as chairman was provoked by the "shock" he received a month earlier when Mr Ray Burke claimed to have a deal where the tribunal would pay his legal costs if he co-operated, said the source.
Although Mr Burke's lawyer, Mr Joe Finnegan, who is now president of the High Court, later denied that any such deal existed, the claim had a profound effect on Mr Justice Flood and predisposed him to quitting the chairmanship.
Tomorrow's hearing will review Mr Lawlor's compliance with tribunal demands for full access to his financial records. It is understood tribunal lawyers have had difficulty obtaining records from a number of overseas financial institutions.
Mr Lawlor, who has business interests in Liechtenstein and the Czech Republic, says his advisers overseas are seeking payment upfront to cover the cost of the extensive co-operation demanded by the tribunal. He wants the tribunal to pay these bills. "The costs issue has gone centre stage for me, as well as others before the tribunal."
Mr Lawlor went to jail three times under contempt proceedings initiated by the tribunal almost three years ago. However, these proceedings are now exhausted and any new attempt to jail him would require a fresh application to the High Court, and a fresh set of reasons for doing so.
Meanwhile, Mr Lawlor says he has made a formal complaint to the Minister for the Environment and the Attorney General about his treatment by the tribunal in recent years. Among other claims, he says the tribunal overestimated the amount of his unaccounted income by double-counting various sums.
