The Anna Livia consortium seeking to build a national conference centre on a site owned by Dublin Port Company has said it has sought permission to release details of its proposal. However it said it is prohibited from doing so by confidentiality clauses included in the competition process being run by the OPW.
The consortium and a rival Spencer Dock group are the two remaining bidders in the competition, which is being run by the OPW on behalf of the Department of the Arts, Sports and Tourism.
A spokesman for the OPW said the two bidders were well aware of the competition rules and that they would not be changing.
On Tuesday, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources said it would be conducting an inquiry into Anna Livia's agreement with Dublin Port Company.
Some members of the committee said the arrangement was in breach of Government guidelines, which stipulate that State assets cannot be sold without tenders being sought.
However, the chief executive of the port company, Enda Connellan, said he had legal advice to the effect that the deal did not breach Government guidelines. He said he got the best deal possible for the company.
The proposed centre would be built on a "podium" and the 27 acres at ground level would continue to be used as a holding bay for trucks, he said.
Yesterday, the consortium said it had been advised that "it is fully in compliance with the State's codes of practice". The consortium comprises Bennett Construction, Earlsfort Centre (Developments) and Kilsaran Concrete.
The Spencer Dock consortium comprises Treasury Holdings and CIÉ and involves port land owned by CIÉ. It has complained that the Anna Livia consortium's proposal was in breach of Government guidelines. The deal with CIÉ was negotiated in the 1990s.
In the Dáil this week, the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O'Donoghue, said the panel's evaluation of the bids had gone to the conference centre steering group.
"I expect a provisional preferred tenderer will be designated shortly," Mr O'Donoghue said.
Negotiations would then take place and a decision was likely to be brought to Government early in 2006, he said.
