Dublin Port Company has rejected claims that it engaged in a "sweetheart deal" with a group of private developers by facilitating their bid for the contract for the proposed new national conference centre.
The State-owned firm said it stood over its claims that it had acted in compliance with public procurement procedures over the planned provision of land to the developers in the case of a successful bid.
However, Fine Gael TD Jim O'Keeffe, who raised the issue in the Dáil this week, said the port company had clearly breached legislation which demanded that State-owned land be disposed of through open competition.
He said Dublin Port had agreed to provide a site to the Anna Livia Consortium, one of two bidders for the €300 million conference centre contract. This was done "in secret" and despite the fact that other developers had expressed interest in acquiring the land, he said.
"Now that this issue has been exposed, there is an onus on the Government to disclose the facts. Why did a State-owned company do a land deal with only one private consortium? Why did it not advertise the disposal of the lands? Why did it subsequently reject approaches from others?
"There seems to be a major effort to conceal what is going on," Mr O'Keeffe said.
The Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Pat "the Cope" Gallagher, has confirmed that his department, along with the Department of Finance, had sought the advice of the Attorney General on the matter.
The Government's legal adviser will give an opinion on whether Dublin Port complied with the code of practice governing State bodies, and legislative provisions regarding public procurements.
Mr Gallagher said his department received a letter from Dublin Port Company last May requesting ministerial approval for its proposal to enter into the arrangement with Anna Livia.
He added: "I assure the deputy there is no question of a sweetheart deal. He can be assured this will be dealt with in an open and transparent manner."
In a statement, Dublin Port Company welcomed Mr Gallagher's dismissal of a claim "made by Deputy O'Keeffe under Dáil privilege that the nature of the facilitation is a 'sweetheart' deal".
Mr O'Keeffe said the arrange "has all the hallmarks of a sweetheart deal . . . since the principals on both sides are well-known Fianna Fáil supporters."
