The engineer at the centre of an investigation into planning irregularities in Kerry County Council has been recommended for promotion.
Killarney town engineer Mr Donal Mangan has been recommended for one of 11 vacancies as senior executive engineer with Kerry County Council following interviews last week. There were 35 applicants for the positions, which have a salary scale of up to £39,623.
Mr Mangan was recommended for one of these positions by an independent interview board. As well as being Killarney town engineer, Mr Mangan had been acting senior executive engineer for some time.
The final decision on Mr Mangan's promotion rests with the county manager, Mr Martin Nolan, who is currently on holidays.
Mr Mangan has been the subject of a lengthy investigation by Kerry County Council which led to him being suspended for seven days without pay.
In his report released in March, Mr Nolan said Mr Mangan's conduct was "unsatisfactory . . . and does not represent the standard of conduct and behaviour expected from such an officer".
As well as a seven-day suspension Mr Mangan was to have been reassigned to another position. However, that reassignment has not taken place and Mr Mangan has remained in his position in Killarney.
Mr Mangan was found to have applied for planning permission on lands he owned in the names of third parties. He was also found to have carried out unauthorised development in the form of site clearance at his lands in Beaufort.
The investigation into his affairs was sparked by complaints by two members of the public.
There was no evidence of Mr Mangan seeking to influence the decisions on the planning applications, Mr Nolan pointed out in his report to the council. And the report stated: "Mr Mangan has made a significant contribution to the work of Kerry County Council."
But Mr Nolan's overall highly critical remarks also said "he engaged in unauthorised development". And Mr Nolan said Mr Mangan had acted in "a most unsatisfactory manner . . . where he concealed ownership of lands and his identity as applicant for planning permissions from the planning authority, who have a statutory right to this information".
The recommendation for promotion was made by an independent interview board comprising a county manager and two county engineers from local authorities outside Kerry and a non-local government employee as chairman.
The engineers and county manager on the interview board were selected by Kerry County Council and the chairman was appointed by the Civil Service and Local Government Appointments Commission.
The positions are part of a major reorganisation at all levels in the council and were being filled from within existing staff, the Kerry county secretary, Mr Philip O'Sullivan, said.
Yesterday, an outspoken critic of planning matters in Kerry, independent councillor Mr Billy Leen, hit out at the recommended promotion. "This recommendation has made ribbons of public confidence in the planning system.
"If you can get promoted in a local authority with a scandal of the highest proportions, what does that do for public confidence?" He added: "If the county manager rubber-stamps this appointment, he will not contain the anger of Kerry."
The recommendation for promotion was "an insult to people refused planning permission as well as to the engineers who did nothing wrong and were unsuccessful", he added.
Mr Mangan is due to appear at a District Court in Kerry next week on charges relating to tree felling on his lands at Beaufort.
A spokesperson for Mr Mangan said he did not wish to comment on news of his recommendation for promotion.
The Civil Service and Local Government Appointments Commission also said they did not wish to comment as it was not a matter for them.