Flood says leaks hamper tribunal

The work of the tribunal on planning and payments could be hampered if individuals believed their confidential submissions were to be published, the tribunal's sole member, Mr Justice Flood, said yesterday.

Convening a public session of the tribunal in Dublin in which he invited legal arguments as to whether or not he should make an order restraining the broadcast and print media from disclosing documentation confidential to the tribunal, Mr Justice Flood said he had written to newspaper editors asking that they provide an undertaking that the tribunal's confidentiality will be respected.

The request for formal written undertakings had come about because "unauthorised publications" had occurred, leading to a volume of complaints to his office.

The situation could not be allowed to continue.

Having passed information on the complaints to the Garda, but not having received the formal undertakings by midday on Friday, December 11th, the judge said: "It falls on me now to decide whether or not to make an order restraining further breaches".

Mr Justice Flood said he considered such an order "not to interfere with the legitimate workings of the press" and while he was "mindful of the important role of the press in a free society", the tribunal's investigative work was not held in public.

Even the belief that this confidential work could appear in the media could hamper the tribunal's work, he said.

Mr Justice Flood said there was a danger of the media confusing their own interest with the public interest.