Planning Tribunal report confirms litany of corruption

The latest Planning Tribunal interim report is a further indictment of the corrupt and criminal actions of officials and developers involved in the planning process, says Arthur Morgan TD.

"This report confirms many of the suspicions which abounded in recent decades regarding corruption in the planning process and at local government," he said. "Once again the legacy of corruption in this State and particularly in the Dublin region is starkly illustrated. We should never forget when we examine the corrupt actions of George Redmond and others that their greed had very real consequences for the people of this State both in terms of the badly planned sprawling housing estates on the outskirts of Dublin and the escalation of house prices. The chronic housing problems currently faced by tens of thousands of people around the State have their route cause in the parasitical greed of developers and property speculators like those named in today's report.

"Perhaps the most striking feature of this report is contained in Chapter 8, where it addresses the issue of cooperation with the Tribunal and concludes that George Redmond, Joseph Murphy Jnr, Michael Bailey and Frank Reynolds hindered and obstructed the work of the Tribunal. This is scandalous, both in terms of wasting the time of the Tribunal and in wasting public money, which funds the work of the Tribunal. There is no question but that they should be prosecuted for these acts of obstruction. Not doing so allows others before the Tribunal to believe they can get away with hindering and obstructing the Tribunal process and face no consequences.

"It is right that Mr Redmond should have been prosecuted but there are also many others who must be prosecuted for their part in what is criminal activity."