The planning tribunal's massive investigation into the rezoning of Quarryvale has opened with claims of corrupt payments to 14 Dublin county councillors.
The late Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor is alleged to have received almost £200,000 (€254,000) for his work in pushing through the rezoning, according to the opening statement by tribunal lawyers yesterday.
Former government press secretary Frank Dunlop has told the tribunal he paid Mr Lawlor £153,500 (€195,000) for his work on the project in the early 1990s, while his former client, developer Owen O'Callaghan, has said he gave the politician a further £36,000 (€45,700) in consultancy payments and political donations.
Before his death in a car crash in Moscow last month, Mr Lawlor acknowledged to the tribunal he got £60,000 (€76,000) from Mr Dunlop and £25,000 (€31,750) from Mr O'Callaghan in connection with Quarryvale.
Mr Dunlop maintains that while many of the payments he made to councillors were corrupt, others were not. In contrast, Mr O'Callaghan says all the payments he made were legitimate business fees or political contributions.
Patricia Dillon SC, for the tribunal, said that in total Mr Dunlop said he paid £232,000 (€295,000) to councillors. An analysis of his bank accounts showed a massive increase in withdrawals around the times of votes on the council on Quarryvale, in 1991 and 1992.
Although Mr Lawlor, identified by Mr Dunlop as "a key strategist" behind the rezoning of the west Dublin lands, was the biggest alleged recipient of money, the lobbyist also claims to have made substantial contributions to other councillors.
These include alleged payments from his rezoning "war chest" totalling £23,000 (€29,200) to the late Tom Hand, £15,000 (€19,000) to the late Patrick Dunne and £12,000 (€15,200) to Seán Gilbride. Former Fianna Fáil councillor Colm McGrath received a total of £45,700 (€58,000) from Mr Dunlop and Mr O'Callaghan.
Mr Dunlop also claims to have made a series of smaller payments to other councillors, including £7,000 (€8,900) to GV Wright, £7,000 to Liam Cosgrave, £2,000 (€2,500) to Tony Fox, £1,000 (€1,250) to Don Lydon, £1,000 to the late Cyril Gallagher, £1,000 to the late Jack Larkin, £2,000 to James Fahey, £2,000 to Jim Daly and £750 (€950) to Richard Greene.
At the start of yesterday's hearing, Judge Mahon expressed his condolences to Hazel Lawlor and her family on the "untimely and tragic" death of Mr Lawlor.
However, Patrick Russell, barrister, for Ms Lawlor, criticised the tribunal for writing to his client a week after her husband's death.
Mr Russell asked that Ms Lawlor's costs be paid upfront, saying his client was now of limited means and that her pension income had been reduced.
Tribunal chairman Judge Alan Mahon refused the request, saying the inquiry's "hands are tied" in relation to costs, which could only be decided at the end of the module.
The largest single payment Mr Dunlop says he made to Mr Lawlor was £40,000 (€50,800) in 1991, which represented half the consultancy fees he had received to that point from Mr O'Callaghan. Sums of £25,000 (€31,700) were paid in 1992 and 1997, the latter on foot of a faked invoice.
Mr Dunlop claims he continued to give money to Mr Lawlor after the tribunal was set up in 1997, and his diary records payments of £5,000 (€6,300) and £8,000 (€10,150) in 1998.
However, Mr Lawlor told the tribunal before he died he had no recollection of these payments and doubted the veracity of the diary entries. Mr Dunlop says he gave £15,000 (€19,000) in cash in 1991 to the whip of the Fianna Fáil group Paddy Dunne, whom he viewed as a powerful and influential figure. Mr Dunne, who in his latter years had no other income than his council and health board expenses, died in 1994. Ms Dillon said the tribunal's investigations of Mr Dunne's accounts had shown up a number of large lodgements during this period.
Mr Dunlop has also provided the tribunal with a list of payments he says were not linked to Quarryvale. These included payments, for amounts ranging up to £3,000 (€3,750), to councillors MJ Cosgrave, Marion McGennis, Olivia Mitchell, John O'Halloran and Pat Rabbitte.
In relation to Mr Rabbitte, he claims the then Democratic Left TD "readily accepted" a contribution of £3,000 in cash when it was offered in the politician's home in November 1992.
Ms Dillon said that when contacted by the tribunal, Mr Rabbitte initially said he did not recollect any payment but later acknowledged receipt of £2,000 in cash. This was returned to Mr Dunlop by cheque a month later. No allegation of corruption was involved, counsel said.
According to Mr Dunlop, he later had a "chance meeting" with Mr Rabbitte in Brown Thomas, during which the politician told him, "I presume that matter will never come up." Mr Dunlop took this to be a reference to the payment, he has told the tribunal.
