The public ethics watchdog is likely to seek "observations" from Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) chairman Lar Bradshaw and director Seán FitzPatrick about the authority's involvement in the group that bought the Irish Glass Bottle site in Ringsend for €412 million.
Mr FitzPatrick is chairman of Anglo Irish Bank and Mr Bradshaw is a director of the bank, which is financing the €1.46 billion redevelopment of the site by a joint venture consortium known as Becbay.
This group includes the DDDA, a public body, as well as developer Bernard McNamara, private clients of Davy Stockbrokers and property financier Derek Quinlan.
The project hinges on the docklands authority using its statutory power to exempt the development of the 24.9-acre site - which will include 2,166 apartments and 826,000 sq ft of retail, office and educational space - from going through the planning process.
The DDDA has invested €32.8 million in Becbay, which bought the site from South Wharf plc in January. Becbay's purchase of the site was backed by a €288 million loan from Anglo Irish Bank, which will provide another €898 million in development finance at a cost of €142 million.
The Standards in Public Office Commission discussed the matter yesterday on foot a complaint from the well-known environmentalist Michael Smith. He raised possible conflicts of interest in respect of Mr Bradshaw and Mr FitzPatrick due to their cross-directorships.
"The status [ of the complaint] is that this is being reviewed by the standards commission and commission is considering the matter," said the commission's spokesman.
In line with its usual procedure in respect of complaints, the commission is now believed likely to seek "observations" on the complaint from Mr Bradshaw and Mr FitzPatrick as well as from the DDDA itself.
This is an informal process. However, it implies that the commission wants to deepen its understanding of the issues raised in the complaint before deciding whether to conduct a formal examination of the case.
The DDDA's spokeswoman yesterday said the authority could not comment as it had not received any correspondence from the commission. Nevertheless, the authority has previously stated that its internal code of conduct applies to any conflicts of interest that arise from its involvement in the project.
DDDA's recently published 2006 annual report says that its investment in Becbay was made by way of a subscription for unsecured interest-free loan stock, which was financed by a new bank facility. The report also says that the authority has guaranteed a further €26 million of Becbay's liabilities.
Asked about the guarantee, DDDA's spokeswoman said: "It's a fairly standard procedure in debt-financing that there'd be a guarantee to the lending institution."
Mr McNamara has invested €57.5 million in the project, the bulk of which was raised through a loan stock placed by Davy. Mr Quinlan invested €46.3 million.
