Moriarty tribunal: A businessman said the Department of Energy never took seriously his offer for Glen Ding wood, Co Wicklow, when it was sold to Cement Roadstone.
Brendan Johnston, of Johnston Industries, said it was now obvious to him that he was "never at the races in the first place" when seeking to buy the lands.
He said they were worth much more than the £1.25 million agreed by Cement Roadstone in December 1990 because of the rock that lay under the sand and gravel. He would have paid more if given the opportunity.
Eugene Regan SC, for the department, said the department had made clear it was not seeking offers subject to planning permission. Mr Johnston had made an unconditional offer of £800,000 as against Cement Roadstone's £1.25 million. "You weren't within an ass's roar," Mr Regan said.
The tribunal heard Cement Roadstone had not succeeded in getting planning permission to remove sand and gravel.
Mr Johnston submitted two bids for the site, one for £800,000 not subject to planning permission, and one for £1.15 million subject to planning permission.
On December 5th an agreement to sell by private treaty had been reached with Cement Roadstone subject to the agreement of the minister for energy. On December 12th, when Mr Johnston contacted the department to confirm a meeting for the next day, he was told the land had already been sold.
Mr Johnston then sought the intervention of the then minister for energy Bobby Molloy, and the December 13th meeting went ahead. At that meeting he submitted his two bids.
He said he was not afforded the privileges that had been afforded to Cement Roadstone. It had asked the department what it was looking for for the land, and had been told. He had asked and had not been told.
Mr Johnston did not agree with Jerry Healy SC, for the tribunal, that the civil servants made it clear to him at the December 13th meeting that he was not at the races. If he had been told how much Cement Roadstone had bid he would have bid more because "I knew how much it was worth".
"I'm used to winning and losing games, but I was never given the same privileges as Roadstone," he said.