Derek McDowell (Labour)

I join others in paying tribute to Judge Feargus Flood for his efforts over the last six years in the planning tribunal which bears his name. The tribunal broke new ground in the history of such tribunals, and Feargus Flood has, by and large, handled it adeptly and very ably. We should remember that in many cases he was dealing with witnesses who had very deep pockets and did not hesitate to go to the courts to assert their rights. In many cases, however, simply by cajoling or persuasion or by the use of words which delivered a clear message to witnesses who might otherwise have been reluctant to contribute as they should to the tribunal, he managed to get the results. It is not difficult to think of examples but I will not recite the names here. He was able to persuade some who might not have done so to contribute fully to the knowledge we now possess. We owe him thanks for this. He did not shrink from using the coercive power of the courts where necessary, as neither he nor the tribunal should. In those decisions, he has done a considerable service to the State.

It has been remarked on before that his interim report was a model of clarity, something which, to be frank, we had not always got from previous reports. In being so startlingly clear by terming certain individuals' behaviour as corrupt, he made the report and the work of the tribunal accessible to people who might have been cynical about it before and said it was all words and that the guilty would get away with it. They have not got away with it, and I do not think they will. At the very least, we have those bold, clear words from Judge Flood that certain practices or specific actions on behalf of certain people were corrupt.