THE County Cork company, Galtee Deer Care, plans to raise £7.5 million, bonds from selling corporate directly to the public.

A Galtee Deer Care spokesman said yesterday that it placed the advertisement which appeared on the front page of yesterday's Irish Times, offering a "guaranteed income" of 10 per cent a year for five years.

The company claims that it can such a high return by "basically cutting out the middle man" selling the bonds directly to public.

The Central Bank, which regular financial institutions in the said yesterday that it was inquiring into the service being offered by Galtee Deer Care. A Central Bank spokesman said it was "looking into it" but said it was policy not to comment on specific case. "As a matter of course, ads like that are investigated," he said.

The Galtee Deer Care spokesman said the corporate bond offer, did not come under the Central Bank's remit as neither Galtee nor Irish International Deer - the vehicle which is handling the investments - are deposit taking institutions.

According to the Galtee Deer Care spokesman, the bond offer is also not covered by the Investment Intermediaries Act as the company was selling a non transferable bond directly to the public.

But, he maintained, this was accidental rather than intentional. "It wasn't put together to get around the regulations," the spokesman said.

The advertisement, which appeared yesterday, did not carry Galtee Deer Care's name. Investors were told the "limited issue" bond would provide a "guaranteed" income of 10 per cent a year for five years with a full return of capital.

The Galtee Deer Care spokes man said that "it wasn't a deliberate decision" to leave the name off the advertisement, the promoters merely wanted to "keep it short and sweet".

The prospectus for the investment, a page of which is written by the former EU Agriculture Commissioner, Mr Ray McSharry, a director of the company, claims that a minimum investment of £10,000 will produce a "guaranteed" return of £5,000 over the five years.

The Galtee Deer Care spokesman laid that the investments would be backed by the deer currently in the herd. Deer have a slaughter value of between £800 and £1,000 and investors will receive two deer for each £1,000 invested, the spokesman added, saying this would underpin the guarantee element of the offer.