New legislation will give planning tribunal scope `to follow money trail'

The Flood tribunal is likely to be asked "to follow the money trail" when its new terms of reference are decided, a Government source said yesterday. Mr Justice Flood is likely to be consulted about to his new remit in about two weeks, when new legislation has passed through the Oireachtas.

The tribunal is investigating links between planning matters and payments to politicians and public servants. However, it has served an order of discovery on Forbairt and the IDA for all documentation in relation to Fitzwilton and three linked Irish companies.

The order was received on Wednesday of last week.

The tribunal is seeking documentation in relation to Fitzwilton, Novum, Rennicks and Press-O-Matic from Forbairt and the IDA. The files deal almost exclusively with the provision of grants to the companies.

The tribunal has also sought documents from Fitzwilton and its Irish subsidiaries or former subsidiaries. A company source said the tribunal is looking for documentation in relation to its payment to Mr Burke and other political payments made by Fitzwilton. "There is no planning issue as far as we are concerned."

Rennicks Group Ltd is a Fitzwilton subsidiary based in Mulhuddart, Co Dublin. Novum and Press-O-Matic are linked companies which were at one staged owned by Fitzwilton. They are based in Artane, Dublin. The £30,000 cheque from Fitzwilton given to Mr Ray Burke in 1989 was delivered by Mr Robin Ren nicks and Mr Paul Power, senior executives respectively of Rennicks and Novum.

Mr Rennicks and Mr Power, and the Fitzwilton chief executive, Mr Kevin McGoran, have all been interviewed by the Flood tribunal.

The interviews concerned the payment to Mr Burke, other political donations and IDA and For bairt grants, the Fitzwilton source said. Planning was not discussed during the meetings with the tribunal.

The Government source said Mr Justice Flood "seems to be taking a wide interpretation of his remit and we don't see any sense in stalling him. We don't know what information he has."

The source had not been aware orders of discovery had been served on the IDA and Forbairt. He said new terms of reference for the Flood tribunal were likely to be like those of the Moriarty tribunal in relation to Mr Charles Haughey. "It will be `follow the money trail'. Otherwise you don't give the judge the scope."

The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, has already released details of Government grants in relation to Rennicks Group Ltd. She said there was no evidence of any political interference in relation to the company.

A spokesman for Forbairt said Novum received £478,000 in Government grants up to the end of 1996. In 1989 it got £10,000 and its next grant was not until 1993.

IDA documentation to be handed over to the tribunal will include material linked to approved aid of £4.2 million for a joint venture proposed in 1989 by Rennicks and a Japanese company, Seibulite, for Kilcoole, Co Wicklow. The project never went ahead and no grants were paid.