On 8 January 1999, I presented the special report prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General, into the 1990 sale of 58.65 hectares of State lands at Glen Ding, County Wicklow, by the then Department of Energy to Roadstone Limited to Dáil Éireann.
As indicated to this House on 30 September and 4 November 1998, I was happy to co-operate fully with any examination the House might wish to carry out in relation to the sale of the Glen Ding lands and to facilitate the Committee of Public Accounts in any such examination. Full co-operation was provided to the Comptroller and Auditor General in the preparation of his report in the matter, which I presented to the Dáil on 8 January 1999. I also supplied a copy of the report to the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and assured him my Department would provide any further assistance the Public Accounts Committee may require in examining the report. I noted the important conclusions of the Comptroller and Auditor General but as I indicated on 8 January, it is not for me to comment further on the method of sale used, over eight years ago to dispose of these lands. I accept the Comptroller and Auditor General's finding that all concerned acted at "all times in the best commercial interest of the State".
