 There had long been speculation about the extent of corruption underlying these planning decisions, and there had been several Gardaí inquiries in the 1980s and 1990s but these failed to uncover evidence.Michael Smith, later to become chairman of environmental body An Taisce and barrister Colm Mac Eochaidh, later a Fine Gael candidate in Dublin South-East in the 2002 general election now a High Court Judge, in 1995 co-sponsored a £10,000 reward for information leading to convictions for planning corruption.James Gogarty, a retired employee of construction firm JSME, responded with information about payments to Ray Burke, a Government Minister and former Chairman of Dublin County Council.