A Minister of State has questioned the accounting systems of major Irish infrastructural projects such as Luas and the M50, in response to criticism of the use of Government aid in Uganda.
Mr Tom Kitt said that the debate about Africa and criticisms of funding of African countries "almost borders on racism".
But his comments were dismissed as a "cheap shot" and "loose talk" by the Railway Procurement Agency, which is developing the Luas tramway system.
Both the RPA and the National Roads Authority defended their accounting systems as in line with best practice.
Speaking on the RTÉ Today with Pat Kenny programme, the Minister said that in Uganda "they have an accounting system that is stronger than some of our own accounting systems. If you look at the M50s and Luases here, I would suggest that people should look at some of the accounting systems."
Asked if he was suggesting that Ireland was in no position to lecture anyone about corruption because of Luas and the motorway projects, the Minister said he had a problem about the debate on Africa.
It "almost borders" on racism, he said, but insisted that he was speaking in a general sense and not directing his comments personally.
Mr Michael Sheedy, the Luas project director, said the RPA was an agency of Government and it was extremely disappointing for a government Minister to make what sounded like a "cheap shot".
"Any suggestion that our accounting standards are less than professional I reject out of hand. We set the benchmark for reporting standards. If the Minister is referring to inflation, we have been very pro-active in addressing that."
But either way, there was an implied criticism and it was "loose talk", Mr Sheehy said.
A spokeswoman for the NRA said, "We're fully satisfied that our accountancy system is compliant with best practice" and added that the authority was "audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General".
Uganda has been criticised for its appalling human rights record and corruption within government.
