Lawyers for former JMSE executive defend €1m bill

Mahon Tribunal: Lawyers for a former executive of Joseph Murphy Structural Engineering (JMSE) have defended their €1 million legal bill at the planning tribunal.

Brian Leonard SC, who appeared with solicitor Brian Rigney for former JMSE financial controller Gerry Downes, was responding to an earlier request from the chairman Judge Alan Mahon for further information about their bill for legal costs. Mr Downes gave evidence on a single day in July 1999.

Yesterday Mr Leonard explained how his client, a chartered accountant, had been headhunted to join the company in the 1980s but then fell "a victim of the warfare" which broke out in the company.

Counsel said the dispute arose as a result of JMSE's failure to pay its former managing director, James Gogarty, a pension after 30 years' service. "There was a terrible row as a result of which Mr Downes lost his job," he told the tribunal.

Mr Downes was left in poor financial circumstances, was unemployed for a period and ended up doing voluntary work in Africa, he said.

Mr Gogarty is the whistleblower who revealed JMSE's corrupt payment to former minister Ray Burke, which the tribunal was set up to investigate. However, he also made allegations against Mr Downes.

Mr Leonard said these were of two kinds; the first questioned his client's character and competence, while the second alleged that Mr Downes was a "willing participant" in a "slush fund" operated by the company.

However, as a result of the hard work done by Mr Downes' legal team, the tribunal became convinced "of the total innocence of Mr Downes in any wrongdoing of any sort", Mr Leonard said.

A "great deal of work" had to be done to defend Mr Downes properly against the "vile allegations" made about him.

Asked by the chairman Judge Alan Mahon how long he had attended the tribunal, Mr Leonard estimated he had been present on about 40 days.

He acknowledged spending "a lot of time here" and said he appreciated the chairman's concern. However, the nature of the allegations against Mr Downes had to be taken into account.

Mr Downes' total bill is €983,730.

Later, counsel for the Minister for Finance, Michael Collins SC, argued once again that parties who had not been granted representation before the tribunal should not be awarded their costs.

Mr Collins pointed out that the right to costs was statutory and non constitutional, and had only existed since 1979, when amending legislation was passed. It was a "sine qua non" that a person could not appear before a tribunal except in circumstances where the tribunal had granted representation.

Other applications for costs were made yesterday by ING Barings Bank, Investec Bank, Arthur Cox solicitors, Hugh O'Neill and SeáConnolly.