Civil servants in the Department of the Environment were not aware of political donations totalling £35,000 made to the Fianna Fáil party by the development company behind Blanchardstown Shopping Centre at a time when the department was considering tax designation for the site, the Mahon tribunal has heard.
In evidence to the planning tribunal, the principal officer at the Department of the Environment, Finian Matthews, said that officials in the department were "certainly not aware" of the donations at the time.
Tribunal counsel Patricia Dillon SC said records showed two donations were made to Fianna Fáil by Green Properties plc, the company behind Blanchardstown Shopping Centre. The first donation, of £25,000, was made in June 1989, prior to the general election.
The second donation, a sum of £10,000, was made in November 1990 to the Brian Lenihan presidential election campaign fund. The then minister for the environment, Pádraig Flynn, was joint honorary treasurer of the fund.
Urban renewal tax designation, which made developments more attractive to potential investors, was decided by that department in conjunction with the Department of Finance.
The first donation followed a private meeting between Mr Flynn and John Corcoran, of Green Properties plc. The pair met in May 1989, following correspondence to the minister from Mr Corcoran in relation to tax designation. The tribunal heard that no notes were taken at the meeting and it had not been attended by a civil servant.
The second meeting, in October 1989, was also private and was not attended by a civil servant, and there was no record of it in the department.
Asked by Ms Dillon if he thought a political donation made by someone who had been lobbying the department for tax designation could be open to the possibility of misinterpretation, Mr Matthews said that it could be open to a "wrong perception".
Asked what advice civil servants would give a minister, had they known of any donations, Mr Matthews said the advice to the minister of the day would be "to ensure an arm's-length arrangement is put in place in relation to the two separate processes".
He also agreed that the minister would be strongly advised to take a civil servant to any meeting with a developer who had made a political donation and ensure that notes were kept.
Ms Dillon pointed out that although Mr Corcoran continued to lobby up to 1995, the shopping centre was never tax-designated.
