Vol. 481 No. 2
100 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Finance the moneys, if any, his Department or the Commissioners of Public Works received for the sale of the property known as McLoughlin's Yard in Lower Quay Street, Sligo; the number of tenders which were submitted in respect of the sale of the property; and the reason for the delay in advertising the site for sale by public tender. [15874/97]
The Commissioners of Public Works received £265,000 for the property. Six tenders were submitted. The delay in advertising the site for sale was due to the fact that in 1992 the Commissioners agreed to dispose of the property to Sligo Corporation who had indicated that it was required for car parking purposes to facilitate the completion of a large urban renewal project which was being undertaken by private developers. When the corporation subsequently indicated it would not be proceeding with its plan, the site was advertised for sale by public tender in November 1995. A number of bids were received but, on the advice of the Chief State Solicitor's Office, all tenders were rejected, as the private developers whom the corporation originally wished to facilitate claimed that they had a binding contract with the corporation and threatened to institute proceedings designed to prevent the Office of Public Works from disposing of the site to any other party. The Chief State Solicitor's Office sought the advice of counsel in the matter and clearance was received from that office to readvertise the site for sale in May 1997.
