Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 15 Apr 1997

Vol. 477 No. 5

Written Answers. - Departmental Properties.

Liam Kavanagh

Ceist:

298 Mr. Kavanagh asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry whether his Department had engaged the services of an engineering consultant in 1989 to advise on matters relating to the proposed sale of land at Glending, County Wicklow, in 1990; if the consultant's written report in 1990 advised the invitations of offers by tender for the sale of this property; whether it was known at all relevant times, and at the highest levels of his Department, that there were two competing companies (details supplied) expressing strong interest in acquiring the land; if a decision was made at the highest levels of his Department not to offer the land for sale by tender but to agree a private sale with one of the companies; if the contract of sale for the property stipulated as a condition of granting a felling licence in relation to the trees at Glending Wood that such a licence was to be conditional upon such development taking place in accordance with the appropriate planning permission issued by the local authority; whether a felling licence subsequently issued by his Department in January 1992 made no reference to a requirement for planning permission; the reason the advice to offer the land for sale by tender was overruled and by whom in view of the foregoing; the way in which the contractual condition regarding a felling licence subject to planning permission was overlooked; and his views on whether the company purchasing the land at Glending was advantaged by these decisions in view of widespread public concern in County Wicklow about the manner in which this sale of a State asset to the private commercial sector was conducted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9657/97]

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Mr. Yates)

The property in question, consisting of 58.65 hectares, was originally owned by the forest service and was sold by the Department of Energy which at the time had statutory responsibility for forestry matters, in December 1991. The property had been retained by the Department of Energy following the establishment of Coillte Teoranta because of its substantial reserves of sand and gravel. Prior to the sale detailed assessments on the property were carried out by the Geological Survey of Ireland and by independent consultants to evaluate a fair market price for the property.

In April 1990 the independent consultants suggested that the Department of Energy might be best advised to invite offers by tender for the sale of the land. However, following an offer for the property by the first company mentioned by the Deputy, the consultants subsequently advised in October 1990 that it would be most unlikely that any other party would be able to match an offer from that company and strongly recommended that the sale to the company be pursued. The then Minister for Energy accepted that advice and the land was not advertised for public sale. The Minister was aware that there had been an expression of interest from the second company mentioned by the Deputy. While negotiations on the sale of the property to the first company were in progress, the second company made an offer for the property but that offer was significantly lower than that of the first company and was not therefore accepted. On the basis of advice available to him, the Minister was satisfied that, if the land were put on the market, it would most likely fail to reach the price on offer from the first company. In accordance with the guidelines on the disposal of Government property where a sale is not conducted by public tender or auction, the approval of the Department of Finance was sought and obtained before the offer by the first company was accepted.

I do not consider it appropriate to divulge the information sought by the Deputy in relation to the contract of sale. A felling licence was issued to the purchasing company in January 1992. While there was no specific reference to planning permission in the licence, the purchasing company had been informed in a letter of December 1991 that a felling licence would issue to facilitate the extraction of sand and gravel provided such activities complied with the Local Government (Planning and Development) Acts 1963-90. In this case as in all other cases, the grant of a felling licence did not exempt the licensee from compliance with relevant planning legislation.

Taking into account the circumstances of the case, the then Minister was satisfied that the State received a fair price for the sale of the property.