The Minister for Tourism and Sport and Recreation, Dr Jim McDaid has called for an immediate meeting of the Board of Campus and Stadium Ireland Development (CSID) to review the handling of the contract for the aquatic centre at the proposed stadium at Abbotstown.
Dr McDaid also told the Dail today that he had sought clarification on certain issues in relation to the contract which was supplied this afternoon.
A report in yesterday's Irish Timesrevealed the company that was awarded the contract, Waterworld UK, had assets valued at just £4 sterling and had never traded at the time of being awarded the contract.
It also revealed the shelf company had only a 5.1 per cent stake in the Irish entity that will run the centre, Dublin Waterworld.
The Labour Party and Fine Gael both reacted to the news with dismay, and the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, expressed concern over a hastily prepared report by Campus and Stadium Ireland Development (CSID) following the newspaper report.
Mr Pat Rabbitte of the Labour Party said: "The question that must be asked is: was there any degree of supervision going on at all? Or is it that the Taoiseach has been so determined to see all aspects of his pet project forced through that corners have been cut and the normal checks and balances discarded".
Fine Gael’s spokesman for Sport Mr Bernard Allen said the Taoiseach should make a statement before the Dáil on the matter. "I have always considered the Taoiseach’s plans for a national Stadium to be highly influenced by external commercial interests pursuing their own agenda," Mr Allen said.
Controversy over Stadium Ireland, which is part of the Campus Ireland project, surfaced last week after it appeared the proposed stadium would not be used in Football Association Ireland's application to co-host the UEFA soccer championships in 2008.