One of the longest-serving counsel for the Flood tribunal, Mr Pat Hanratty SC, is to be replaced by Mr Pat Quinn BL. Mr Hanratty leaves the tribunal after almost four years to resume private practice.
Mr Hanratty told The Irish Times yesterday he had notified the sole member of the tribunal, Mr Justice Flood, of his intention in January, and he agreed to stay until October.
"When I was asked to take it on I agreed. I was told it would be six months, but I knew it would be more. By the end of this year, it will be four years.
"I had to make an assessment in the light of the expected length of the whole tribunal, which will be another three years at least. There is an enormous number of issues coming up concerning the rezoning of a whole number of plots of land.
"About 30 significant issues have been identified, involving a number of councillors and a number of national politicians, and the payment of substantial sums to a substantial number of people.
"On the basis of at least three more years I would be absent from my practice for at least seven years. That would not be tenable."
According to Department of the Environment figures, Mr Hanratty earned £954,002.86 from the tribunal between December 1997 and March 2001. The fees of senior counsel in the tribunal are £1,350 a day.