THE key players in the Bord na Mona controversy, with the exception of former managing director, Dr Eddie O'Connor, will be questioned today on their roles in the affair by members of the Oireachtas Committee on State Sponsored Bodies.

But the committee will not compile a report on the affair for the Oireachtas, according to its chairman, Mr Liam Kavanagh.

He said it would try and glean more detailed information about the events leading up to Dr O'Connor's resignation last week.

The exact format of the day long session would not be decided until the committee meets this morning.

The Secretary of the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications, Mr John Loughrey, is scheduled to appear at 11 a.m., followed by the former chairman of the company, Mr Brendan Halligan, at noon.

The current chairman, Mr Pat Dineen, is due to appear at 2 p.m. followed by the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Mr Lowry, at 3 p.m. Dr O'Connor has declined to attend on the basis that he is no longer an officer of the company.

The four men will be offered the opportunity to make a statement on their involvement in events at the company over the last four months. They will then be asked to answer questions, but the committee has no power to compel them to do so, according to Mr Kavanagh.

The four men would not have any legal privilege concerning what they said and might declined to answer some questions for legal reasons, he said.

There will be keen interest in what the former chairman, Mr Halligan, has to say as he has so far declined to comment publicly on his central role in the affair.

Dr O'Connor has claimed that his controversial package, which included unvouched expenses of £66,000 over nine years, was agreed with Mr Halligan and that it was also agreed that the details of it would be kept from the board.

Mr Halligan can expect to be asked to justify taking this action, if it is true, and also questioned on why he informed the Department that Dr O'Connor's pay arrangement were within Government guidelines, when the board of the company has subsequently found that they were not.

The Fianna Fail spokesman on energy, Mr Seamus Brennan, said last night that he would be seeking to raise these issues with the "former Labour Party general secretary. However, the main target of Fianna Fail's questioning will be the minister, Mr Lowry. Mr Brennan said he would be asking the Minister whether he condoned Mr Dineen's handling of the affair.

The minister is expected to say that he became directly involved in the affair only two weeks ago and that it was now resolved, following Dr O'Connor's decision to resign with a settlement package reported to be worth £750,000.

He is also expected to address suggestions that he, along with his department have a "hidden agenda" regarding Bord na Mona. The unions representing the company's 2,000 workers have claimed there was a campaign to remove Dr O'Connor as the department was not in favour of his aggressive expansion plans for the company.

The minister is likely to say that he has secured £123 million in state funding for Bord na Mona, to refinance its balance sheet. He may also refer to the European project to construct, a large peat burning power station in the midlands as evidence of his commitment to the company and its central role in the economy of the midlands.

The Secretary of the Department, Mr Loughrey, may also be asked questions about the department's often tense relationship with Dr O'Connor and Bord na Mona.

Mr Brennan said last night that he wished to establish why the investigation of Dr O'Connor's pay and conditions was widened by Mr Loughrey. Dr O'Connor has claimed that the widening of the investigation carried out by accountants Price Waterhouse cast his remuneration package in the worst light possible.

The current chairman, Mr Dineen, can expect to be questioned about the leaking of copies of the Price Waterhouse report.

Mr Dineen, along with the board's legal advisers and the department, were the only recipients of the draft report, which, was leaked to a Sunday newspaper. Mr Dineen may also be questioned over his handling of the affair in general.