The Chairman of the Flood Tribunal has written to the Dáil, asking for two extra members of the Tribunal to be appointed, due to the volume of work he has to deal with. Mr Justice Fergus Flood said that, on rezoning matters alone, at least another 200 witnesses will have to be interviewed, which would take not less than two years. He said that a substantial number of decisions made by councillors on the 1983 Dublin County Development Plan merit public inquiry.
The Flood Tribunal was set up in November 1997 to inquire into certain planning matters in County Dublin, and payments to the former Fianna Fáil Minister Ray Burke. Since then, the Tribunal has heard evidence for 177 days about an alleged payment by James Gogarty to Mr Burke. It sat for 86 days to inquire into decisions Mr Burke took in relation to Century Radio, and is now in the middle of hearing evidence about payments to Mr Burke from builders Thomas Brennan and Joseph McGowan, which should take a total of around 30 days.
In his letter to the Dáil, Mr Justice Flood said that he intends to deliver his final reports on these three issues to the Oireachtas before he hears any further evidence, but that he now has to deal with more complex issues which could take even longer to deal with. Mr Justice Flood also said that he then plans to deal with re-zoning decisions made by the elected Members of Dublin County Council in connection with the review of the 1983 Dublin County Development Plan.
He said that he has concluded that "a substantial number of these decisions merit public inquiry". He also said that "there are other substantive issues not connected with re-zoning decisions which also appear to merit public inquiry", but does not say what they are. Two hundred witnesses will have to give testimony on the re-zoning issue alone, and hearings "will take not less than two years".
Mr Justice Flood wants the Oireachtas to appoint another two members of the Tribunal to assist him in this new phase of his work, which he hopes to start in September. He also wants another person appointed to act as a substitute, in case any of the other members is unable to continue his or her work for any reason. Mr Justice Flood also asked if a decision on his request can be made before the Dáil recess in three weeks time.
There has already been a positive response from Labour's Brendan Howlin, who said that any extra cost involved would be well spent if it helped remove any vestiges of corruption or dishonesty from public life.
