The Flood Tribunal resumes today in Dublin to consider additional requests for legal representation arising from the expansion of its terms of reference last June.
The changes in the terms arose from the discovery of a second £30,000 payment to Mr Ray Burke in June 1989, this time from Rennicks Ltd, a subsidiary of the Fitzwilton Group.
The tribunal had been set up late last year following revelations that Mr Burke, then minister for foreign affairs, received £30,000 in cash from a building firm, JMSE, also in June 1989.
However, public hearings into the tribunal's substantive business - inquiring into certain planning and related matters - are not expected to get under way until next year.
The Rennicks affair was the second occasion on which the terms of reference had to be changed. Last March, at the request of Mr Justice Flood, the Government amended the terms to delete the June 20th, 1985 date, before which the tribunal had not been empowered to investigate.
In the wake of the Rennicks revelations, the Government amended legislation under which only tribunals themselves could seek changes in their terms of reference, and asked Mr Justice Flood to investigate this payment also.
