A report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has criticised the Department of Finance for failing to ensure that a €14.8 million grant for the Punchestown Agricultural Event Centre was properly evaluated under its own 1994 guidelines for public expenditure appraisal.
The report, which is currently in draft stage, also found "no evidence" of any formal assessment of the project by the Department of Agriculture which awarded the grant.
It follows a number of hearings by the PAC into the event centre, including a visit to the Co Kildare site which is located in the constituency of the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy.
It is understood the PAC, which discussed the report - compiled by its chairman, Mr John Perry of Fine Gael - has yet to decide on final-draft wording.
A number of Fianna Fáil members of the committee are anxious about its potential to embarrass both Mr McCreevy and his colleague in the Department of Agriculture, Mr Walsh.
The report found that while the Department said it had no role in evaluating such projects, "it is not evident to the committee how the Department ensures that projects submitted to it for approval have been evaluated under the 1994 guidelines, and that such evaluations as have been done are adequate".
Along with having found no evidence of a formal assessment, the report says the Department of Agriculture had never made a public statement about "the need to address this perceived infrastructure gap".
The Department also failed to seek any business or marketing plan to assist its evaluation.
"The committee is of the view that consultation with parties who might potentially use the facility but who have no financial interest in the project could not be considered as a substitute for a formal appraisal as required by the guidelines."
The draft report also questions the capacity of the legal agreement between the Government and Punchestown, in the form of the exchange of letters in August 2000, which it says is now being addressed with an additional agreement.
Other criticisms contained in the report include the fact that only one-third of the events at the agriculture and equestrian event centre were of an agricultural and equestrian nature.
The report recommends that the 1994 guidelines be applied by Government Departments "in all circumstances", and that the Department of Finance clarify its role in relation to such approval pro-cedures. It is also seeking that a post-project review be carried out by the Department of Agriculture and presented to PAC.