Kerry County Council has written to independent Fianna Fáil councillor Mr Danny Healy-Rae about a "possible" breach of ethics after the plant hire contractor moved a motion calling on the council to carry out hedge cutting on roads.
The council acted following legal advice, the Mayor of Kerry, Mr Ned O'Sullivan, said yesterday. Addressing a council meeting yesterday, Mr O'Sullivan said he was referring to a complaint made to the ethics registrar of the council about a possible breach by Mr Healy-Rae of the Ethical Framework for the Local Government Service at the September 2004 meeting of the council. The matter had been referred to himself and the county manager.
"Senior counsel advice sought by me and the county manager has now been received. That advice pointed to the need to deal with this matter through a formal process.
"Accordingly, we wrote to Cllr Healy-Rae on the 14th of January 2005, setting out the nature of the possible breach and requesting him to make whatever comments, if any, he wishes on the matter within 28 days."
The complaint against Mr Healy-Rae was made by fellow councillor Mr Brendan Cronin (Ind). Mr Healy-Rae has publicly protested his innocence and has said Mr Cronin's complaint was designed to hurt him politically.