A former senior planner with Dublin County Council has described how councillors were subjected to a 'frenzy' of external pressures when making decisions on development plans.
Enda Conway said that, on many occasions throughout the 1990s, councillors went against all professional advice and made many 'illogical and unjustifiable' decisions, rezoning land to the benefit of single land owners.
Mr Conway said it often resulted in bad planning decisions which incurred a cost to the community.
He said planners and council officials found it an unpleasant and disappointing experience to have their advice and work set aside by councillors.
Earlier Mr Conway told the Tribunal how planning experts had told councillors in the late 1980s there was no need for additional land to be re-zoned for industrial or residential use.
He referred to 14 working papers preparing by council staff on a number of issues.
He added that despite the tremendous resources put into preparing reports and plans for the county, this work was often ignored by councillors.
