The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General into the sale of land at Glen Ding Woods in Co Wicklow in 1992 has led to calls for a full investigation by the Dail Public Accounts Committee and the Moriarty tribunal.
The Fianna Fail TD for Wicklow, Mr Dick Roche, said the committee should hold public hearings and establish precisely who took the decision to sell the site by private treaty to Roadstone Dublin.
"My belief is that the Public Accounts Committee must call the then accounting officer of the Department of Energy in and establish why this bizarre approach to the sale was decided upon," he said. "It must also establish who decided that the principle of even-handed treatment of citizens should be laid to one side. That is the most damning statement I have ever seen in any public report in this State."
The private treaty sale of the land has been a matter of intense controversy. Since the sale The Irish Times has revealed that another quarrying company, Hudson Brothers, expressed an interest in purchasing the site, but was told by the Department of Energy that it was not for sale.
Mr Brendan Johnston, of Johnston Industries, also made an initial unconditional offer for the land but was told he had been unsuccessful.
Yesterday it emerged in the report of the Comptroller, Mr John Purcell, that Treacy Enterprises Dundrum Ltd had also made representations regarding a proposal for a quarry operation in the Blessington area.
The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, to whom the CAG's report has been sent, said it was not for him to comment on the method of the sale. However, he said he fully accepted the CAG's finding that "all concerned acted at all times in the best commercial interest of the State".
Dr Woods said he had reviewed current procedures for disposal of State property in the Department of Marine and Natural Resources.
"It is important to acknowledge that, in certain circumstances, where rigorous application might jeopardise the aim of obtaining the best price, the State's best interest may require modification, with Department of Finance sanction, to these procedures." The deputy leader of the Labour Party and former environment minister, Mr Brendan Howlin, said the Dail Public Accounts Committee should carry out further investigations into the way the sale was handled following the CAG's report.
The report had "vindicated" the concerns that residents and potential buyers of the property had been expressing for years, he said.
Mr Tommy Cullen, a Labour councillor in Co Wicklow and a former chairman of Wicklow County Council, said the report "raised far more serious questions than it answered" and that the sale of this valuable State asset should now be referred to the Moriarty tribunal. The inquiry should investigate precisely why the Department of Energy did not conduct the sale "in an appropriate manner" and who took the decision not to allow rival sand and gravel companies to make an offer for the site.
"It would appear that the price paid for the land was ludicrously low, given the amount of documented commercial interest in the site and that those commercial interests were effectively excluded from the sale process," said Mr Cullen. "If it had been put to public tender, a much higher amount would have been achieved for the benefit of the taxpayer."
Mr Seamus Maye, of Framus Ltd, formerly National Concrete, said that although the land was sold for £1.25 million, he estimated its value at £60 million, following processing costs. He demanded to know how the Department of Energy had decided it had achieved the best possible price for the land when other quarrying companies were never given an opportunity to make a bid.
He questioned on what basis the price was considered reasonable and what expert advice was used to ground this opinion. The State-owned forest land in Blessington was sold to Roadstone Dublin Ltd, a subsidiary of CRH, for £1.25 million.
Advisers to the Department of Energy said it was unlikely that Roadstone's offer would be bettered and the sale was then conducted by private treaty.
It has since emerged that the adviser to the Department, Mr Kiaran O'Malley, a planning consultant, had worked for the company before advising on the sale of Glen Ding.
The CAG's report published yesterday said of his appointment as consultant: "A file note in August 1988 states that the Department `should call in for discussion the consultant as advised by Wicklow County Council and make a start in obtaining outline planning permission'."
Last year The Irish Times published documents which showed that another quarrying company, Hudson Brothers, had expressed an interest in the land in July 1987, before Roadstone had approached the Department.
However, in a letter from the then minister for energy, Mr Michael Smith, the company was informed the land was not for sale as it was required for afforestation purposes. Also, if the State-owned land was sold in the future, it could only be disposed of by public tender. Hudson Brothers was not contacted by the Department of Energy when it was eventually decided to sell Glen Ding.
The company, which has made a submission on the matter to the Flood planning tribunal, is currently taking legal proceedings against the State over the sale.
"We realised the opportunity first. We had been in the sand and gravel business for a long time and my father knew where the reserves were, but we were not given the chance to bid for it," said Mr Devin Hudson.
Mr Frank Corcoran, chairman of the Blessington Heritage Trust, said he was concerned that an important listed archaeological site was sold secretly by the State to a quarry company in a manner which did not allow the trust or other heritage organisations to correct the record.