Smith ‘can’t pinpoint’ councillor who admitted bribery

A GARDA investigation ordered by former Environment Minister Michael Smith into alleged planning corruption in the Dublin area in the early 1990s drew a blank, the Mahon Tribunal heard yesterday.

Mr Smith said he was unable to identify the Fianna Fáil party colleague on Dublin County Council who had admitted to him in 1993 that bribery was taking place.

In two speeches that year, the former FF minister had referred to planning in the Dublin area as a “debased currency” which were done at the requests of landowners and developers — at the expense of a broader planning vision.