Two town councillors yesterday denied they had knowingly breached ethics legislation as a result of their role in a controversial attempt to rezone land around the Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney, Co Kerry, last March.
Fine Gael mayor of Killarney Sheila Casey and Fianna Fáil's Pat O'Donoghue appeared before the first ever Standards in Public Office Commission investigation into local authority members yesterday.
The hearing arose following a complaint from the ethics registrar of Kerry County Council to the commission after a rezoning motion was tabled to designate 20 acres of land around the hotel as part of the town centre.
Mr O'Donoghue is managing director of the Gleneagle group while Ms Casey is a front office manager of the Killarney Valley Hotel, which is leased by the Gleneagle Group.
Mr O'Donoghue told the hearing that the Gleneagle lands had been zoned for tourist amenity when they were in the Kerry County Council area, but after they were transferred to Killarney UDC in 2000, the lands were designated "unformulated".
He said his family - which has been involved in the Gleneagle Hotel since 1957 - believed it was an unsuitable zoning and decided to have the lands rezoned to "tourism" and "associated town centre" facilities.
Mr O'Donoghue - who is also a director of Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland - said he drew up a motion and approached fellow councillors, including Ms Casey, and asked them to sign it. He did not sign as he did not consider this would be appropriate. He also took no part in the debate. He did not leave the council chamber because he was not advised it was necessary to do so.
Mr O'Donoghue said he did not appreciate at the time that it was not proper for him to seek support, as a businessman, for the motion and he infringed his obligations as a councillor inadvertently. He said in hindsight he should have left the chamber during the debate.
Ms Casey said the motion, proposed on March 6th, 2006, was a first-step process that would have involved a public consultation and an environmental impact study before going back to the council for a final vote.
She believed the people of Killarney should have the opportunity to give their views. At no time did she believe that employment with the Killarney Valley Hotel would be deemed to have given her a "beneficial interest".
She said her involvement with Mr O'Donoghue was limited to her employment in one of his family's hotels, and their positions as councillors. She had no day-to-day contact with him.
Ms Casey said she looked at every individual motion on its merit and would never be influenced by her employment.
The hearing heard that the motion was passed but was not endorsed later by the town clerk who disagreed with the rezoning.
Counsel for the commission, Maurice Collins SC, said it was his view there was a clear breach of guidelines by the two councillors but it was a matter for the commission to decide.
The commission does not impose sanctions but will report to Minister for the Environment Dick Roche in the next few weeks. If it finds that any breaches are serious enough to be considered offences, a report will also be sent to the DPP. It is chaired by Mr Justice Matthew Smith, and includes Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly, Comptroller and Auditor General John Purcell, former TD Liam Kavanagh, clerk of the Dáil Kieran Coughlan and clerk of the Seanad Deirdre Lane.