A Fianna Fáil junior minister has described as unintentional his use of ministerial notepaper from the Department of the Environment for a letter supporting a land rezoning in Co Cork.
Batt O'Keeffe, Minister of State with responsibility for environmental protection, made the submission on behalf of a developer to the draft action plan for Fermoy last January. It was received almost a week before the plan was published.
His intervention caused concern among officials in Cork County Council, one of whom warned of "difficulties in the future" if the council accepted a submission made via a politician before the plan went on public display.
Mr O'Keeffe wrote in support of plans by Hollycourt Developments, one of the largest house-builders in Munster, to have lands at Watergrasshill zoned for housing and commercial use. As a TD for Cork South-Central, he does not represent Watergrasshill.
The Minister for the Environment has the power to reverse any rezoning made by councilllors and is usually loath to intervene directly in local planning issues in case he is accused of a conflict of interest.
Yesterday, Mr O'Keeffe agreed that his use of ministerial notepaper for the submission was open to misinterpretation. "In the normal run of events, I would have sent it on TDs' stationery. I'm surprised it happened that way. If it had gone through the department, they would have stopped it." The Minister, who is in China, said he would have been aware that the documents would be made public. "I'm not that stupid to leave myself open to that interpretation. But then maybe I am."
County councillors will next week finalise 13 local area plans for Cork in the aftermath of a process marked by intense lobbying by developers for land rezoning. The county manager's recommendation that Hollycourt's submission be rejected has already been accepted by councillors.
No mention of the politician's involvement was made in the manager's report to councillors last April, which listed the two submissions on the Watergrasshill land as coming from Hollycourt.
A council spokesman said that there was "nothing unusual" about representations being made by TDs and even ministers on planning issues. Asked how a submission could have been made before the plan was published, he said: "People would have had a fair idea what was coming up." The plan had been with the printers for four months before it was published.
According to the council's file, Donal Herlihy, of Hollycourt Developments, wrote to Mr O'Keeffe on January 4th, enclosing a map of the lands he hoped to get rezoned for housing. He suggested that three of the 15 acres be developed for a 60-bed nursing home and a number of sheltered housing units. It appears Mr O'Keeffe sent this letter on to the assistant manager, John Deasy, on the same day. However, the Minister's letter is not on file.
The draft plan went on display on January 10th. On January 18th, Mr Deasy wrote to Mr O'Keeffe, acknowledging receipt of the letter, which he said he was forwarding to a senior planner in the planning policy unit, Paul Murphy.
On January 27th, another official at the unit wrote to Mr O'Keeffe, acknowledging receipt of his "submission/observations" and assuring him that it would be taken into account before the plan was finalised.
However, in a hand-written note to Mr Murphy on February 9th, a council official says he/she is "a bit concerned re the implications of accepting this submission".
The writer, whose signature is not legible, says this is because it was sent to Mr Deasy on January 4th, before public display began, and because it was not sent as a submission directly, but "via Batt O'Keeffe".
"In order to avoid difficulties in the future, Batt O'Keeffe TD should be written to [ to] submit this as part of the process before February 21st [ the closing date for submissions] or to advise the landowner to write in before the end of the public display period." In a note appended to the memo, Mr Murphy expresses agreement and suggest a phone call to the developer "will do".
Two days later, Ms Susan Leahy, a council official, wrote to Mr O'Keeffe, saying "it has come to my attention that this was not a submission and the acknowledgment was made in error".
On February 15th, Mr O'Keeffe replied on notepaper marked Office of Minister of State, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, stating: "I would advise that I did intend my letter to be a submission."
In a replying letter to the Minister, Ms Leahy then confirmed that his letter would be treated as a submission.