The Killarney town engineer who has been suspended for breaches of the local government regulations is being investigated under the ethics code of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland (IEI), The Irish Times has learned.
Mr Donal Mangan was suspended for seven days and transferred to Tralee by the Kerry county manager, Mr Martin Nolan, after an internal inquiry found he had been involved directly or indirectly in more than 70 planning applications.
Yesterday it was learned that Mr Mangan's case is among a number concerning local authority engineers which are being examined by a panel set up following media reports on "double-jobbing" in the past three months.
Last January the IEI's director, Mr Paddy Purcell, said all of its 17,000 members were subject to a revised code of ethics, adopted in November 1999. This code was "a very powerful instrument . . . to investigate thoroughly any complaints".
The code prohibits engineers, whether in the public or private sector, from undertaking outside work without informing their employers and obtaining their consent. Adherence to its wide-ranging terms is monitored by an ethics board established by the IEI.
The "double-jobbing" investigation is led by Mr Sean Finlay, who chaired the committee which drew up the new code of ethics. The other members are Mr Kevin Ryan, vice-president of the University of Limerick, and Mr Jack Kavanagh, a former IEI president.
Mr Finlay declined to comment in detail on the progress of the panel's investigation on the grounds that it was ongoing. However, he said that where complaints were made against named individuals they would be pursued "with vigour", and this would take some time.
In addition to Mr Mangan the three-member panel is investigating other cases which have come to light in recent months, including an engineer who is alleged to have used inside information on road and other plans to buy property in the area.
Penalties under the code could include removal from the IEI's register of members, as Mr Purcell made clear in his statement last January. Anyone found to be in breach can make an appeal to a separate appeals board, whose members include Mr Patrick Hanratty SC.
Referring to the current county-by-county investigations, the IEI director said: "Obviously, we are keenly interested in the outcome of these investigations and will rigorously implement our code of ethics if any of our members are found to be in breach of the code."
