The planning tribunal chairman has defended his direction to Bank of Ireland to produce documents relating to accounts held by a building company, its director and his wife.
In the High Court yesterday counsel for the tribunal chairman, Mr Justice Flood, said the chairman made the orders against Bovale Developments Ltd, company director Mr Michael Bailey and his wife Teresa, in the context of the tribunal's confidential preliminary investigations.
Mr John Gallagher SC, for the chairman, submitted that the making of such orders was not reviewable by the High Court in the absence of any evidence that the tribunal chairman was acting in bad faith or from improper motives. No such evidence had been submitted, he said.
If the tribunal's preliminary investigative work could be subject to judicial review by the High Court, it could not do its work, counsel said.
He argued the chairman had the powers to make the orders and considered it necessary to make them for the purposes of carrying out his functions. He denied the orders were in breach of fair procedures or that there was a requirement that proper notice of their making be given to the account-holders.
The chairman had not acted in excess of his powers or in breach of the requirements of natural and constitutional justice. He believed the applicants were not entitled to have disclosed to them any confidential information which might have come into the tribunal's possession.
The Baileys had been notified by the bank of the making of the orders and did not suffer from the failure of the tribunal to notify them of the orders, Mr Gallagher said.
If the tribunal, on examination of the documents, decided it wished to use them or adduce them in evidence, all persons affected would have the opportunity to adduce evidence and cross-examine, he said.
Counsel was opposing an application by Bovale Developments Ltd, Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, and company director Mr Michael Bailey and his wife Teresa, of Killamonan House, The Ward, Co Dublin, in respect of orders made by the tribunal chairman directing Bank of Ireland to produce and discover documents relating to accounts held by the company and the Baileys.
The orders were made on February 26th and March 12th last.
The applicants have argued that the orders were made without notice to them, and were "oppressive and prejudicial" and an invasion of privacy in that they required the applicants to disclose commercially sensitive information and private matters.
The hearing before Mr Justice Geoghegan continues today.