A faulty system allowed corruption, but only human frailty caused it

GREED is always the overriding motivation for corruption. But the tribunal formerly known as Flood — now called the Mahon Tribunal — has also shown that the ground in which greed is planted can determine whether it flourishes.

The tribunal's hearings at Dublin Castle have revealed that there was a systems failure at the heart of our largest local authority in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This system failure meant that there was a strong and for some irresistible temptation put in front of Dublin county councillors at the time.

Dublin expanded rapidly in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Demographic growth, changes in living and marriage habits and the economic boom created unprecedented demand for housing and commercial development space.