A Dublin landowner paid over £105,000 to politicians and the lobbyist Frank Dunlop when he was trying to have his lands rezoned for housing, the Mahon planning tribunal has heard, writes Paul Cullen.
Christopher Jones and his companies made payments totalling £45,750 directly to 20 politicians between 1991 and 1993, tribunal lawyers revealed yesterday. He denies the payments were made in return for support for the rezoning of his land in south Dublin, but accepts that many were made when he was trying to have the land rezoned.
In 1992 Dublin County Council controversially voted to rezone Mr Jones's farm at Ballycullen, a decision that was confirmed in a second vote a year later.
Separately from his direct donations to politicians, Mr Jones and the Jones Group made payments totalling at least £60,000 to Mr Dunlop, who was engaged to lobby for the rezoning.
Mr Dunlop, who initially claimed he received just £17,500 from Mr Jones, says he spent £11,000 of this money to secure the support of nine county councillors.
The revelations are contained in the opening statement of the tribunal's latest inquiry, delivered yesterday by tribunal lawyer Patricia Dillon SC. Among those who will be called to give evidence during the four-week hearing are Labour leader Pat Rabbitte, who supported the rezoning, and Tánaiste Mary Harney, who was lobbied on the issue by Derry Hussey, financial controller of the Jones Group.
Mr Jones (81) has told the tribunal he does not know whether Mr Dunlop made any payments to councillors out of the money he gave him. However, Mr Dunlop says he told Mr Jones and Mr Hussey that "the ways of the world would have to apply" in his work.
Ms Dillon said Mr Dunlop concluded that both Mr Jones and Mr Hussey knew that payments to certain councillors would be necessary to get the rezoning motion passed.
Mr Hussey has denied "in the strongest possible terms" the suggestion that he knew councillors would have to be paid.
The largest recipient of payments from Mr Jones was the late Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor, who received a total of £17,800. Senator Don Lydon got £7,000, GV Wright TD £5,500, Cllr John O'Halloran a charitable donation of £3,000, and Government chief whip Tom Kitt a total of £2,500. Neither Mr Lydon nor Mr Wright disclosed payments of £5,000 they got from Mr Jones's companies to the Fianna Fáil inquiry into payments in 2000.
Counsel said Mr Kitt, who was not present at the rezoning vote, had not told the tribunal about a £2,000 payment he received in 1992.
Mr Dunlop claims he paid £2,000 each to Cllrs Lydon and Tom Hand to sign the rezoning motion in 1992. He also made £1,000 payments to Cllrs Seán Gilbride, Jack Larkin, Cyril Gallagher, Tony Fox, Colm McGrath and Liam Cosgrave, and says part of a "composite" £5,000 payment to John O'Halloran related to the Ballycullen lands. However, neither Mr O'Halloran nor Mr Larkin voted on the rezoning proposal. Mr Fox denies receiving any money from Mr Dunlop, while the remaining councillors are either dead or say there is no link between donations from Mr Dunlop and the Ballycullen rezoning.
Ms Dillon said Mr Jones had made various unsuccessful attempts to have his dairy farm at Ballycullen rezoned in the 1970s and 1980s. In October 1992, councillors passed by 42 votes to 14 a motion proposed by Mr Lydon and Mr Hand which envisaged the building of 360 houses. By 2002, however, planning permission had been obtained for over 1,200 houses.
The tribunal is also investigating the rezoning for offices of the headquarters of the Jones Group at Beechill in Clonskeagh in 1992. The motion proposing this rezoning was prepared by Mr Dunlop and proposed by Cllrs Lydon and Hand.