Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I call on the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to instruct the three county managers of Fingal, South County Dublin and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, the successor councils to the former Dublin County Council, to pursue the repayment to each council of all moneys lost to them by the corrupt activities of George Redmond, as set out in the Flood-Mahon tribunal report No. 3 published last month. The corrupt activities of George Redmond cost Dublin County Council, its citizens and ratepayers a fortune. It is appropriate that whatever steps are necessary should be taken to recover this money and to recompense the communities short-changed by the corruption clearly set out in the report. It is deeply regrettable that the Minster of State has not offered any mechanism for the public to be recompensed for the losses incurred by them as a result of the corruption of George Redmond and the others named in the report.

George Redmond is now in jail having been found guilty by a jury of serious corruption during his service as an officer of Dublin County Council. Mr. Justice Flood has released to the public his conclusions after an exhaustive and detailed public tribunal of inquiry into Mr. Redmond's finances and affairs. In chapter three he concluded that, for many years, Mr. Redmond lodged money to his various accounts amounting to many multiples of his council salary and that this money was received from developers and builders operating in the County Dublin area, especially Fingal. He concluded that the value of these payments for each year represented the value of a substantial house given to him free of charge. Let us imagine that in today's money. The value of a substantial house in Castleknock, Swords or any part of Fingal was received by Mr. Redmond every year, free of charge. A substantial house in Castleknock today is worth perhaps €700,000.

He did not get it for nothing. He made sweetheart deals to facilitate different builders and developers. Their names are well-known. Many of them are regular drop-in callers to Fianna Fáil hospitality tents where the Taoiseach did not appear to have a problem rubbing shoulders with and glad-handing people whose activities are the subject of Mr. Justice Flood's devastating conclusions. The judge set out in great detail the different services Mr. Redmond offered to his patrons and concluded that the county council lost large sums of money through the actions of Mr. Redmond in his corrupt efforts to set up things for these builders and developers. Chapters three and four of the report set this out.

The developers saved a fortune from lower development levies and charges and rewarded Mr. Redmond accordingly. He received 10% of what they saved from these activities. Chapter six concluded that Mr. Redmond provided information to a developer in return for payment. In chapter six, paragraph 11, the judge concluded that payments made to Mr. Redmond by a named developer were corrupt payments designed to take advantage of decisions he made in his capacity as a local authority officer.

The report runs to many pages and every one is an indictment of Mr. Redmond and all his works. I am certain every official who works for a county council is as horrified as I am about the sorry tale of Mr. Redmond's activities.

In the case of Fingal County Council, the manager should now take immediate action to remedy the injustice and the loss that has been caused to the council. The lands described in the report are now part of County Fingal. The development levies and charges were money properly and legally due to provide services to people and businesses in Fingal. Huge sums were lost in those years because of corruption. This money should be recovered now. The Revenue Commissioners insist on unpaid tax being paid with interest and penalties. I suggest that the managers of Fingal and the other old Dublin county councils adopt the same aggressive approach. Furthermore, I want the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to instruct and empower them to do this.

We are owed this money by the developers who bought Redmond. Redmond himself owes us this money. It would be a crass injustice to Fingal taxpayers and ratepayers to allow these people to get off scot free and to keep their corruptly gained moneys and advantage. The Criminal Assets Bureau should be involved to recover these moneys, as should the Garda and the courts. The Government should not delay the long-promised corruption assets bureau any longer. There should be only one response to this report; we make the guilty parties pay and pay and pay.

The Minister is silent on the question of Mr. Redmond's large pension. Why should the average pensioner live on a relatively modest pension while someone like Mr. Redmond, who has been identified and found guilty of corruption, continue to enjoy a large pension far in excess of what other pensioners enjoy?

These tribunals are vital to clear up our democracy. Deputy O'Dea is often wheeled out by Fianna Fáil to say that no one is interested in or cares about the tribunals. Mr. Justice Flood is owed a debt of gratitude. However, I wish to refer to what other Deputies have referred to. Much of this is still going on. I received 43 threatened actions from the combined Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors on the old Dublin County Council because I had the temerity to suggest that money might be changing hands in the carry-on described earlier by Deputy Seán Ryan. The carry-on was disgraceful; one would not see such wheeling and dealing at the Ballinasloe horse fair. People would pull at one's coat in the corridors of the council building, imploring one to vote for this, that or the other motion. People were running from the council chambers to Conway's pub. It was as if there was an umbilical cord between the pub and the chambers of the old Dublin council.

Anyone who has been subjected to the threat of legal action will know what I went through. My family and I had to endure the threat of highly paid legal guns going after me because I dared to suggest that the behaviour was deeply improper and that the public would think money was changing hands over these deals. How naive was I?

I am deeply concerned at what is still happening in Fingal. No sooner do various senior managers and planners retire, than they commence work with the developers and landowners. This is deeply inappropriate. It is one of the reasons people wonder if they can have confidence in the planning process. The Government has a responsibility to clean this up. There is a significant amount of work to be done if we are to retain the confidence of the people in the planning process. So far, the Government has run away from it. The Minister of State must tell us what he proposes to do to recover the moneys lost to the taxpayers and ratepayers of Fingal County Council.

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