Mr Liam Lawlor TD has identified himself as the unnamed Fianna Fail TD referred to in RTE news reports yesterday, linking him with the former Dublin Assistant City and County Manager, Mr George Redmond.
In a statement issued late yesterday evening, and accompanied by 16 pages of background material, Mr Lawlor denied several details in the RTE reports.
He denied ever meeting Mr Redmond together with a Dublin businessman, Mr Jim Kennedy, owner of an amusement arcade in Westmoreland Street, Dublin.
He also denied attending meetings between Mr Redmond and Mr Kennedy at the arcade.
The statement was accompanied by extensive correspondence about Weston Park, a housing development in Lucan, Co Dublin. Weston Park estate was built by Lismore Homes and Lismore Builders, companies founded by Jim Kennedy in 1979 and which went into receivership 10 years later before the development at Weston could be fully completed.
"Mr Jim Kennedy was a constituent of mine for many years and also the proprietor of a licensed premises in Clondalkin. Mr Kennedy is also a native of Co Laois, where both my parents were from, and I have known him for some 20 years," Mr Lawlor said.
However, he insisted he had never attended meetings between Mr Kennedy and Mr Redmond.
"I have met Mr Kennedy on a number of occasions over the years. I have never met Mr Redmond on Mr Kennedy's premises," he added.
He had "no knowledge whatsoever" about the house at Strawberry Beds, Lucan, a premises originally owned by Mr Kennedy near the Westlink Bridge.
"As an elected member of the County Council during Mr Redmond's tenure as [assistant] manager I, like the other 77 members, naturally knew Mr Redmond. I have no knowledge of him other than in his official capacity or of his private dealings with Mr Kennedy." The documentation published by Mr Lawlor in relation to Weston Park involves letters between himself and constituents who appear to be living on the development. Some deal with the resurfacing of the road in phase one of the estate while others concern landscaping work.
According to an explanatory note, when Weston Park was being constructed, the residents' association for that estate and the adjacent, longer-established, Kew Park Residents' Association expressed concern over "the boundary treatment" with reference to maintaining hedgerows, trees and shrubs.
They also voiced concern over the completion of walls, roads and the development of open space and hard-top amenities. According to Mr Lawlor, all the outstanding works were pursued by him with the relevant officials.
Some of the correspondence concerns a letter from Mr Lawlor to the Senior Administrative Office in the Planning Department of South County Dublin, on behalf of residents in Weston Park estate who required clarification about outstanding works.