Two Kerry county councillors have denied intentionally breaching ethics in public office legislation in relation to a controversial land rezoning in Killarney in March 2006.
Fine Gael Mayor Sheila Casey and Fianna Fáil Cllr Pat O'Donoghue today appeared before a one-day sitting of the Standards in Public Office Commission in Dublin to answer questions about their role in an attempt to rezone 20 acres of land around the Gleneagle Hotel outside Killarney town centre.
Both Cllr Casey and Cllr O'Donoghue told the Commission that as far as they were concerned they were working inside the terms of the legislation.
Cllr Casey - an employee of the Gleneagle group - was a signatory to the motion which sought to designate the land as part of the town centre which would have allowed for high-density housing as well as office and retail space to be developed.
Cllr O'Donoghue - a director of Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland and managing director of the Gleneagle Hotel Group - assisted in wording the motion but declared an interest and did not vote on it.
Despite opposition from Killarney council management, a majority of councillors voted for the rezoning.
At a later council meeting, however, town manager Tom Curran refused to allow the rezoning to proceed on the basis that the lands were on the rural and urban divide.
The Commission's involvement stems from a complaint from the ethics registrar of Kerry County Council.
After hearing testimony from the two councillors today, the Commission said it would deliberate on the matter and deliver its findings in a matter of weeks.