A former Fianna Fáil county councillor has claimed that confidential information he provided to the tribunal was leaked almost immediately to the party. Mr Colm McGrath blamed the leaked information for his deselection by Fianna Fáil in 1999.
According to Mr McGrath, information he had given in confidence to the tribunal was in the hands of Fianna Fáil "within days, probably within 24 hours". The information also fell into the hands of journalists, he said.
When Fianna Fáil officials called him in for interview in December 1998, it soon became clear that they had information about the donations he had received. "I told them that anything to do with donations directly to me was none of their business," he said.
The officials "seemed to take umbrage" at this. "I clammed up because I felt they had received information relevant to my discussions with the tribunal," Mr McGrath said.
He had never been given any "distinguishing reason" why he had been deselected. It was something to do with the information Fianna Fáil got, or else it had been leaked from the tribunal.
Mr John Gallagher SC, for the tribunal, said: "Nothing has been leaked from the tribunal in relation to you or anybody else."
Mr McGrath: "That's your opinion."
Mr Gallagher: "I know it."
Mr McGrath: "I don't share your opinion."
The councillor, who is now an Independent, was giving evidence in the Carrickmines module of the tribunal. This is investigating allegations that politicians were paid money in return for their votes to rezone land in south Dublin.
Mr McGrath has told the tribunal he had "neither the time nor the inclination" to read the documents sent to him by the tribunal.
The tribunal files were taking up valuable space in his office and causing considerable inconvenience, he told the tribunal in a letter last April.
He pointed out that he was the managing director of a company "susceptible to all the vagaries of the commercial environment". While he remained committed to co-operating with the tribunal, "the survival of my company and the financial security of my family will take precedence over any further demands on my time," he said.
Yesterday Mr McGrath added that the tribunal files were "very bulky" and he didn't have time to read them "in the context of everything else happening in my life".
Mr McGrath said his father had been a long-standing member of Fianna Fáil, and he joined the party at the age of 18. He was elected to Dublin County Council in 1985 and was successful at every subsequent election. He was motivated by a desire to do something about the deprivation and disadvantage in his area of Clondalkin.
