An official at Waterford County Council was arrested yesterday by gardaí investigating alleged irregularities in the local authority.
The man was taken to Dungarvan Garda station where he was held under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act for questioning in relation to offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act. He was released late last night and gardaí said a file would be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Gardaí said the arrest was part of an ongoing investigation, launched last April. Councillors were informed of the development in a text message sent by the local authority early yesterday.
The statement read: "Waterford County Council has been advised that an employee of the council has been arrested as part of an ongoing Garda investigation. No further details are available." A spokeswoman for the council said it was making no further comment, on the advice of the Garda.
The council has already suspended one official in relation to the inquiry - a different person to that arrested yesterday. The suspension followed a preliminary investigation by the local authority into complaints of planning and other irregularities from members of the public.
Garda inspectors, who have set up an incident room in relation to the inquiry, have removed a number of computers and files from the local authority's offices. All councillors, and several officials, have been interviewed under the operation.
According to councillors, the Garda presence around the council building had increased noticeably in recent weeks.
The local authority has been dogged by a series of allegations about irregularities over the past number of years. The latest controversy erupted last September when a local government auditor discovered a €53,000 undercharging of development contributions in respect of two projects in the county.
According to the report of local government auditor Patrick J. Healy, there "were two significant errors amounting to €53,000 in the calculation of Part V planning contributions" in the council's set of accounts for 2003.
Part V planning contributions are payments made by developers to local authorities in lieu of providing a portion of a development for social and affordable housing as set out in the Planning and Development Act 2000.
