Roadstone Dublin has stated it has no opposition to the Glen Ding issue being referred to the Moriarty Tribunal if that is the only way it can protect its reputation.
In a statement yesterday, the company expressed disappointment at last week's report of the Dail Committee of Public Accounts, which criticised the sale of Glen Ding Wood by the Department of Energy to Roadstone Dublin in 1992 without going to public tender.
"Despite finding absolutely no evidence of wrongdoing on behalf of Roadstone in relation to the purchase of the lands, the committee omitted to state this unambiguously in its conclusions, thus exposing Roadstone to continuing harmful speculation and inaccurate comment by various interest groups," the statement said.
The 147-acre Co Wicklow site was sold privately to the company, a subsidiary of Cement Roadstone Holdings (CRH), for £1.25 m. The late Mr Des Traynor, Mr Charles Haughey's personal financial adviser who controlled the Ansbacher accounts, was chairman of CRH at the time.
Mr Donal Dempsey, managing director of Roadstone Dublin, said yesterday: "Roadstone has always carried out its business in an entirely ethical and professional manner, adhering to the highest standards of corporate stewardship."
However, he said "this continuing controversy has been extremely damaging to our reputation" and had placed the company's operation in Blessington "in jeopardy". "If referral to the Moriarty Tribunal is the only way to protect our reputation then I have no objection," he said.
Labour Party deputy leader Mr Brendan Howlin reiterated his call yesterday for the matter to be referred to the payments to politicians tribunal.
However, Fianna Fail TD Mr Dick Roche said he would prefer to see the issue being debated in the Dail first. He said his personal view was that there was no political favouritism involved in the case but administrative errors did take place.
He said the emphasis should be on ensuring the mistakes highlighted in the Dail Committee report were not repeated. The report recommended that adequate safeguards should be established to avoid a recurrence in any State Department or agency.
