An attempt by Labour to have the lands owned by the controversial English shelf company,Jackson Way, returned to their original low-value agricultural status has failed.
A motion calling for the rezoning of the Jackson Way lands at Carrickmines to agriculture was not taken at Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council last week after the county manager said he would not deal with "site-specific" motions before the draft plan for the area is published.
The six Labour councillors say they will renew their attempt to have the land rezoned after the plan is published next spring.
Today the Flood tribunal begins public hearings into allegations that money was paid to county councillors in return for their votes on rezoning motions in connection with the Jackson Way lands.
The hearings, the first by the tribunal in over a year, are expected to last at least two months. They are divided into two parts: the first will deal with attempts to rezone the land when it was owned by an offshore company, Paisley Park, in 1993; and the second will examine a second attempt to rezone the land in 1997-98 when ownership had passed to Jackson Way.
The lobbyist, Mr Frank Dunlop, has told the tribunal he paid about £20,000 to politicians to secure the rezoning of these lands.
The politicians acknowledge that they received payments, but say they were legitimate political contributions.
The tribunal will also examine the fate of adjoining lands owned by three businessmen, Mr Brian O'Halloran, Mr Gerard Kilcoyne and Prof Austin Darragh.
These were rezoned during the 1990s.
Jackson Way is currently seeking €47 million in compensation from the county council in respect of 20 acres of its land that was compulsorily acquired for the South-Eastern Motorway.
It is also seeking compensation from Bord Gáis for a gas pipeline that was built across its land. Both matters will be settled by arbitration.
Meanwhile, the tribunal has moved to prevent further leaks by warning that it will take court action against journalists who publish confidential information relating to its investigations.
It has written to the Sunday Independent demanding that the newspaper give an undertaking that it will not publish such information. If the newspaper fails to give the undertaking, the tribunal will seek a court order to this effect.
In recent weeks the newspaper has published a detailed account of the evidence Mr Dunlop will allegedly give to the tribunal.
Although the tribunal is anxious to avoid direct conflict with the media, it wants journalists who are writing on matters it is investigating to consult tribunal lawyers before publishing.
Mr Michael Roche, managing editor of the Independent group, confirmed yesterday that the tribunal had written to the newspaper.
"Our lawyers are studying the matter in detail, and we will reply to Mr Justice Flood in due course," he said.
In 1998 Mr Justice Flood called in the Garda after the newspaper refused to hand over an affidavit in possession of one of its journalists, Jody Corcoran.
Today's hearing of the tribunal starts at 10.30 a.m. in Dublin Castle.
