The deputy leader of the Labour Party, Mr Brendan Howlin, has renewed calls for the "urgent investigation" of the sale of State forest lands at Glen Ding, Blessington, Co Wicklow.

He was backed by Mr Dick Roche (FF, Wicklow), who said the sale of the land was not done in an appropriate way. There was clear evidence that there needed to be an investigation into the sale, a call that has been made a number of times since the sale in 1992.

The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, said the Secretary General and Accounting Officer of the Department "has advised there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that there was any impropriety of any kind in this matter".

But he added that he was prepared to co-operate fully with any investigation if the Dail decided to have one.

Mr Howlin said there was "deep concern and unease" surrounding the sale in 1992 of 147 acres of State forest lands to Roadstone (Dublin) Ltd for £1.25 million by private treaty when it was Government policy to sell land by public tender competition.

The Minister said that detailed assessments of the property carried out for the Department valued the property at £821,000 without planning permission and £1.26 million with permission. It was subsequently sold for £1.25 million without planning permission.

Dr Woods said the former Fine Gael minister, Mr Ivan Yates, said in a written reply in 1997 that "the only other firm offer on the table when negotiations with Roadstone were in progress was significantly lower than the Roadstone offer and was not therefore accepted".

Mr Howlin said it was "incredible" that the sale of the land was sanctioned by a Minister - the then minister for energy, Mr Bobby Molloy - who was "unaware that a number of parties had expressed interest in the lands prior to the decision to dispose of the lands to Roadstone".

Mr Howlin said that "vital information" existed in the Department of Energy and was "kept from" Mr Molloy "when he sanctioned this sale".

Outlining the history of interest in the forestry land, Mr Howlin said a number of people in 1987 had expressed an interest in buying it. They included Hudson Brothers Ltd, a sand and gravel company, who were told in a reply from the Department of Energy that "it is not intended to dispose of it in the foreseeable future".

Mr Molloy was quoted earlier this year in The Irish Times, through a spokesman, as saying that when he approved the sale of the land to Roadstone he was not aware that Hudson Brothers had expressed interest in buying it, Mr Howlin said. The only two interested parties, as far as he was concerned, were CRH and Mr Brendan Johnston, a businessman.

In November 1987 the then minister for forestry, Mr Michael Smith, said in a letter following representations by TDs on behalf of Hudson Brothers that "even if the deposits were available for sale the area would be offered for sale by public tender competition in accordance with Department of Finance-delegated sanction for such sales". This letter clearly stated Government policy, Mr Howlin said, and it "was subsequently entirely ignored".