New legislation reforming the operation of tribunals is expected to significantly speed up investigations into planning corruption.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, yesterday published legislation which will allow tribunals to hold parallel inquiries, thereby shortening the total time needed to conduct investigations.
The measure will apply in particular to the mammoth Planning Tribunal, which was set up in 1997 and has many years to run. The Taoiseach told the Dáil last month the tribunal could last another 15 years, while Labour leader Mr Pat Rabbitte claimed it would run for 30 years.
The Tribunals of Inquiry (Amendment) Bill published by the Minister would allow Judge Alan Mahon of the Planning Tribunal to direct two of his fellow judges to sit separately and to deliver separate reports.
Mr McDowell's Bill also clears the way for Judge Mahon to adjudicate on the issue of legal costs arising from the work of the tribunal in its first five years.
This follows the sudden resignation last June of Mr Justice Feargus Flood, who heard the evidence at the tribunal during this period. Legal experts had expressed fears that any decision on costs by Judge Mahon would be open to challenge because he was not the judge who heard the original evidence.
Judge Mahon will now have to read through 35,000 pages of evidence heard between 1998 and 2001 before deciding whether to award costs to parties represented at the tribunal.
Already, legal bills exceeding €25 million including VAT have been submitted, and further bills of over €20 million are expected. The bill for the legal team of former minister Ray Burke alone comes to €10.5 million.
While most parties can expect to get their costs, the bills of 15 people, including Mr Burke, who were found to have "hindered and obstructed" the tribunal in Mr Justice Flood's interim report last year, will come under particular scrutiny.
These parties have indicated they will fight any attempt to withhold their costs and to impose the tribunal's costs on them. This prospect of lengthy and costly litigation forced the Government to shore up the legal position of Judge Mahon with the current Bill, which will operate retrospectively.
Mr McDowell last night described the Bill as "an urgent response to an unforeseen situation" that had arisen. He expressed the hope that the Dáil and Seanad would co-operate by ensuring that it was enacted before the Christmas recess.
The Bill also provides new powers for tribunals to seek direction from the High Court in relation to its functions, including the matter of costs. This power is similar to that already provided to the commission inquiring into child abuse.
No extra resources have been provided for the Planning Tribunal. The pace of its investigations has quickened recently; having taken a year to inquire into the rezoning of Jackson Way's land at Carrickmines, it has completed two further modules in just 15 and six days.
