An official has been suspended on full pay from Kerry County Council after allegedly contacting councillors to outline concerns about a rezoning of lands in the Tralee-Killarney hub area.
The draft Tralee/Killarney hub settlements area plan, which has been voted on by councillors, has attracted hundreds of submissions and is now at the final public consultation stage before being voted on again by the full council in December.
It is understood the council employee, who does not work in the planning department, used official Kerry County Council headed notepaper to express directly to council members his objection to the residential zoning of rural lands, which are alongside properties owned by his family and others. The lands concerned had been the subject of a development application and the official's family and others were objecting to this.
It is understood, however, that while he used official council paper, he did not pretend to be writing in an official capacity.
All 27 councillors are understood to have been sent the letter and one councillor brought the matter to the attention of senior staff. The official, who is considered hard-working and efficient, was suspended immediately last Thursday.
However, at least one councillor has refused to confirm to investigating council staff that he received the letter. He told the council he would not be commenting on an investigation into what, to him, was a minor indiscretion.
Under the code of conduct for local authority employees derived from the Local Government Act 2001, employees are asked not to use "their official position" or the "resources" of the local authority for personal gain. The code warns them to take "extra care" in planning matters.