The Flood Tribunal has heard details of a Brennan and McGowan company document that referred to a payment to Ray Burke for "planning". The document was included in the files of Dublin Airport Industrial Estates, which were lodged with the company's office. The entry read "Ray Burke, £15,000 – planning". It was entered under the heading "Professional fees due if the company is sold".
Gardaí investigated the matter in 1974, after the Sunday Independent revealed the details. Michael O'Hanrahan, a solicitor who acted for the company, told the Tribunal today that he removed the document from the files in the company's office and tore it up the day after the Sunday Independent published the article.
When asked why he would destroy a document that had created such a controversy, he said that it should not have been on the files. He said, however, that he had kept a copy, in any case. Tribunal lawyers said today that he did not tell Gardaí or the company's office at the time that he had taken a copy.
Mr O'Hanrahan could not explain why this was not disclosed in his statement to Gardaí. Ray Burke was questioned about the entry when he was last in the witness box. He said that the entry had been made maliciously.
