Findings of corruption against former Fianna Fáil minister Ray Burke have been withdrawn by the planning tribunal. The move follows an earlier tribunal decision to drop its finding that Mr Burke had hindered and obstructed its work.
In a letter to Mr Burke’s solicitor, Vincent Shannon, the tribunal said that, in addition to withdrawing the charge of hindering and obstruction, all findings of corruption based on the evidence of James Gogarty were being removed from its second interim report.
Mr Gogarty was an important witness, on whose claims the tribunal based many of its findings, but the Supreme Court held last summer that parts of his initial statement had been wrongly withheld.
The tribunal began its work in 1997 and published five reports. Its most recent estimate of the total cost of its operations is €159 million.
Key finding
In its second interim report, published in September 2002, a key finding related to a meeting held at Mr Burke’s house between Mr Burke and the developer Michael Bailey to discuss land in north Dublin owned by Joseph Murphy Structural Engineers (JMSE).
“The meeting at Mr Burke’s home at Briargate, Swords, Co Dublin, in the week prior to June 15th, 1989, was specifically arranged by Mr Michael Bailey and Mr Burke so as to allow for the payment of money to be made to Mr Burke,” the 2002 report claimed. It added that “the meeting was not arranged in order to receive a political donation but was arranged for the purpose of paying Mr Burke money to ensure his support and his influence over others” as to the planning status of the Murphy lands.
The report concluded: “The payment received by Mr Burke amounted to a corrupt payment and all present at the meeting were aware that it was such.”
The tribunal has now withdrawn the finding of corruption against Mr Burke and it will be removed from its second interim report along with the findings that the former minister had hindered and obstructed its work.
Legal costs
That decision means that Mr Burke will be entitled to his full legal costs, which were estimated at €10 million in 2002. Changes in the system of legal charges since the onset of the financial crisis mean they will probably amount to about €5 million at this stage.
The tribunal’s decision to reverse a finding made on the basis of Mr Gogarty’s evidence arises from the Supreme Court decision last July.
In a case against the tribunal taken by JMSE, the judges raised concerns about the way Mr Gogarty’s statement had been handled and subsequently presented in evidence. The Supreme Court found that “potentially explosive” material had been wrongly withheld.
The material included allegations made by Mr Gogarty, who died in 2005, against a politician, a law officer and a number of businessmen.
