The following is the full statement issued by Bord an Mona managing director Dr Eddie O'Connor:

I refute totally the claims made today in two Sunday morning newspapers about the levels of remuneration I have enjoyed during my nine years as managing director of Bord na Mona.

This morning's (Sunday) articles appear to be based on a draft report by accountants, Price Waterhouse, that was presented firstly to the board of Bord na Mona and given to the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications. The draft report is fundamentally flawed in that it includes my business expenses, the majority of which were of no benefit to me personally, and, as such, goes beyond the terms of reference set by the board.

Last week it became clear to me that Price Waterhouse intended to include all business expenses rather than evaluate those expenses that were part of the personal benefits agreed with the previous chairman. The only purpose served by including my business costs is to grossly exaggerate what I am supposed to have earned. Lawyers, acting on my behalf, advised Price Waterhouse that I would only agree to a report focused solely on my benefits going before the board, as per the terms of reference. Someone has chosen to use a draft report that is about something totally different to what Price Waterhouse was engaged by the board to examine, in order to do maximum damage to me.

As such it follows precisely the same pattern as the first, supposedly confidential report, which was leaked to the media six weeks ago.

What is the result of all this?

Further distress for me, my family, and, I believe further ridicule for Bord na Mona. Who is responsible for this? There will be those - many perhaps - that will blame me and will wonder why, if I am as committed to Bord na Mona and to the projection of the good image as I claim to be, I have not resigned?

Let me stress a number of key facts: When I was asked, in 1987, to become managing director of Bord na Mona, the pay guidelines meant that I would have to take a drop in my salary from what I was earning as a senior manager in the ESB. The then chairman of Bord na Mona, Mr Brendan Halligan, was mandated by the board to negotiate a deal and to keep its terms confidential. Board minutes of the time reflect this.

I brought the details of my contract to the attention of the current chairman, Mr Pat Dineen, following his appointment. Hem was unhappy with it and said he would work with the Department to ensure that I was paid at least at the same level albeit in a different form. The first Price Waterhouse report, the leaking of which began this controversy, was what Mr. Dineen and I agreed as the best way of putting a figure against the total value to me of the benefits I had received as managing director. I stopped receiving certain of those benefits in November 1995 yet they were then used to damage me in April.

I cannot be precise on the total nine year value to me of those benefits that were part of my contract with the company because I have not gone through all the material prepared by Price Waterhouse. What I can be sure of though is that my total remuneration: salary, bonuses and board fees plus the personal and unvouched expenses over the nine years does not even come to £750,000 never mind the £1.9 million referred to this morning (Sunday).

Among the more sensational items that keep being referred to in the media as of personal benefit to me are wine, the timeshare in Portugal and "massive" pension entitlements. The fact is I have never got any wined as any form of perk whatsoever. I have never used a timeshare in Portugal, and not only do I not have a "massive" pension, the pension arrangements agreed have never been honoured. That strikes me as the real scandal, that after 26 years service to the State in the ESB and Bord na Mona, those responsible are still refusing to grant me my pension entitlements.

There are a great many other points I would want to make to correct the inaccuracies and the great damage done to me. Unlike others, I have kept my counsel for the past five weeks in order to see if this matter could be resolved in a fair and equitable manner with, at all times, the interests of Bord na Mona as much in mind as those of myself and my family. Despite last week's difficulties, I still had that hope until this morning.

What is happening here is that the public is now being told I earned £2 million from Bord na Mona over nine years. Were that true there would certainly be grounds for considering my position. The fact is over the period in question I did not earn even close to half that amount. No one can honestly expect me to walk away form a job to which I have committed some of my most productive professional years, on the back of a dishonest and concerted attempt to ruin my reputation. I have now to take the necessary legal steps to protect whatever is left of my reputation.