Kerry County Council has confirmed it is investigating two officials over involvement "in certain planning applications".
The investigations followed complaints by members of the public and both involve planning applications although neither official works or has worked in the planning department. The county manager, Mr Martin Nolan, has promised a full statement when the inquiries conclude, probably at the end of the month.
The Minister for the Environment has said he is "very concerned" about incidents which undermine public confidence in the planning system.
Mr Dempsey said he had instructed his officials to remind all county managers of regulations forbidding activity which might lead to conflicts on interest on the part of local authority staff. He would seek confirmation "within three months" that all staff were adhering to the regulations. He also called on councillors and local authority officials to report any evidence they had of wrongdoing.
The announcement from Kerry County Council in a statement yesterday follows the news that an investigation into planning irregularities in Co Roscommon resulted in the suspensions there of two officials and the resignation of a third.
One case is thought to relate to a development in the Killorglin-Killarney area. Mr Nolan issued a statement on the conduct of a council employee last April over a planning matter, which may also involve an investigation by the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources.
Planning has been the most heated issue in the Kerry council chambers over the past 12 months and has led to many disputes between councillors and officials. Record numbers of section 4s - motions put down by councillors to overturn planning refusals - have regularly interrupted the business of monthly council meetings.
Special planning meetings and clinics have been scheduled to resolve difficulties in a county which has seen the number of planning applications double over five years to a record 4,200 last year. Councillors argue that residents and their families should be allowed to build on family-owned land; planners see a need for control to safeguard the scenic environment and its open spaces, important for the county's biggest industry, tourism.
The building of single holiday homes in rural areas is soon to be banned and planning now favours "bona-fide residents" through amendments to the county development plan in 2000.
An Taisce has also been drawn in, with one councillor, Mr Michael Healy-Rae, repeatedly likening it "to the Ku Klux Klan". At the November meeting of the council, a motion was adopted asking An Taisce to furnish a list of its members. So far the list has not been supplied.
Kerry West councillor Mr Breandan Mac Gearailt says he has received threats over a planning issue, but would not say where the threats originated.
Officials and councillors have been strongly critical of each other. At a heated meeting in September in which there were 13 section 4s, Mr Nolan alleged that councillors themselves were interfering in the planning process.
They were attempting to short-circuit the "procedures provided by the law," he said, accusing them of "misusing the planning system" by putting down section 4s instead of advising applicants who had been turned down by the council to go to An Bord Pleanala.
The landscape and heritage of Kerry were being "sold to the highest bidder," he said. The manager also claimed that "one member has advised an applicant to proceed and build without reference to the planning authority regulation and control". He has consistently refused to name the member.