THE CHAIRMAN of Mason Hayes + Curran, David Moylan, sought an assurance from the chairwoman of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA), Prof Niamh Brennan, that she would not criticise a report he was finalising for the authority.

Mr Moylan made the request in a letter to Prof Brennan in October 2009 in response to a request that he finalise his report concerning an office development built by Liam Carroll in the docks.

Permission granted for the development was later overturned by the High Court because of a secret agreement Mr Carroll had with the authority’s executives.

Anglo Irish Bank was to be a tenant in the development, which it was funding. Anglo chairman Seán FitzPatrick was on the authority’s board when Mr Carroll first approached the authority.

Mr Moylan was asked by the authority and its then chairman, Donal O’Connor, to write the report in October 2008. However, in January 2009 Mr O’Connor resigned, having been appointed chairman of Anglo Irish Bank in place of Mr FitzPatrick.

Prof Brennan became chairwoman of the DDDA in March 2009 and asked Mr Moylan to produce “further clarification” in relation to some aspects of his then draft report.

By September it was clear that the two sides could not agree and Prof Brennan asked Mr Moylan to complete his report with immediate effect. Mr Moylan sought assurances that neither Prof Brennan nor any representative of the authority would issue critiques or criticisms of his work. He said his work was in exact accordance with the instructions he had been given. The board never gave Mr Moylan the assurance sought.

Yesterday, Mr Moylan said he was a senior professional who was engaged to do a significant task. “To face a situation where I might have to defend myself at the end of the task was, I thought, unusual. You would normally expect the result of an independent review to be treated with respect. I felt I should be allowed to be independent.”

In her letter to Mr Moylan, Prof Brennan recorded how, in May 2009, they had discussed how Mr Moylan had received verbal instructions from Mr O’Connor concerning the “tone and style” of the report commissioned by the then board.

She had requested that he interview Mr FitzPatrick and had not been persuaded that Mr FitzPatrick was not relevant to events, given his nine years on the board of the DDDA and the fact that he was chairman of Anglo, which was to use the Carroll buildings as its new HQ.

Mr Moylan would not comment on the point concerning Mr FitzPatrick. The written terms of reference given to him by the DDDA board named the persons to whom he should speak and they did not include Mr FitzPatrick. However, it is understood he did speak to Mr FitzPatrick following Prof Brennan’s request and formed the view he had not been involved in the DDDA’s dealings with Mr Carroll over the proposed new Anglo HQ.