Contractors paid thousands in protection money

A REPORT on an investigation into a protection racket probe in Cherry Orchard found no evidence Dublin City Council reimbursed building companies on sites in Dublin 10.

Contractors building houses for the city council and an approved housing body paid thousands of euro in protection money to a drug dealer and his enforcer in 2016 and 2017 to stop their sites being damaged and staff being attacked.

The Government’s report on the investigation, commissioned by the former Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy and prepared by retired senior counsel Mr Patrick Butler, has not been published.

Its conclusions were furnished by letter to Lord Mayor Daithí de Róiste on Friday.

The extortion racket emerged five years ago in the High Court, which found that more than €250,000 seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) from Derek ‘Dee Dee’ O’Driscoll (50), of Croftwood Grove in Ballyfermot, was the proceeds of crime.

CAB told the High Court that both O’Driscoll and David Reilly (41) of Croftwood Park are part of a criminal organisation involved in serious crime in the area.

Three building contractors hired O’Driscoll and Reilly after sustaining ongoing anti-social behaviour at their sites in the Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard.

On one occasion in January 2017 the cab area of a digger was set alight after petrol was thrown on it while it was being operated by a driver.

Stolen cars were also driven into the perimeter fence of building sites, and a portacabin was burnt out.

Companies paid the criminals between €1,200 and €1,500 a week and the attacks stopped once they were put on the payroll.

Patrick Butler SC found that while there was clear evidence the contractors had paid protection money to O’Driscoll and Reilly, there was no evidence that DCC had reimbursed the contractors.

The report recommends that all local authorities develop a protocol with a risk assessment to manage these issues.