Independent senator Joe O'Toole has admitted he gave RTÉ and The Irish Times incorrect information last January concerning how long he had known about a €30 million prison land deal involving his brother-in-law.
Mr O'Toole told The Irish Times on January 26th and RTÉ on January 27th that he had only heard of the purchase of 150 acres from his brother-in-law by the Department of Justice for a new prison in Thornton, north Co Dublin "in the last couple of days".
He admitted yesterday that he had, in fact, known of the deal, which was announced on January 26th, for several weeks before that.
He said he acted as he did because he had been told in confidence by his brother-in-law that the Department of Justice had approached him to offer him €30 million for his land.
"I felt very uncomfortable about discussing this publicly. I didn't know who in the family my brother-in-law had told, and in what order, so I didn't say how long I knew.
"That was a mistake because people are reading all sorts of things into it", he said last night.
Asked on RTÉ's News at One on January 27th when he had heard of the deal, he said: "The first I heard about is was when my brother-in-law told me what he had decided".
Asked when that was he said: "Obviously in the last couple of days."
Mr O'Toole said last night he had no personal interest in the transaction and did not stand to gain in any way. He had accompanied his brother-in-law to two meetings with the Department of Justice in relation to the matter, but these were merely formal signings of documents and involved no discussion or negotiation.
The plan to build a new prison there has aroused major opposition from residents.
Mr O'Toole said yesterday that he was the only local public representative not to oppose the prison being built and that as a result he is the subject of a number of unfounded rumours.
One was that he and his wife had a commercial interest in the deal. The second was that he was selling his own house and moving out of the area. Neither of these was true, he said.
In a letter to his neighbours, the NUI senator said he respected the objectives of those who were seeking to halt the development.
He said he accepted that "prisons are part of the democratic process. I am prepared to live with a 'prison in our back yard'.
"For me, as an elected representative, to oppose it on the grounds of location would be cynically unprincipled."