The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Ó Cuív, has sought a report into the decision by the board of Údarás na Gaeltachta to sell a holiday home complex in Connemara for €500,000 less than the highest bid.
The board of the Gaeltacht authority is due to reconsider the controversial decision at its monthly meeting in Waterville, Co Kerry, on Friday, amid concerns that it may be subject to legal challenge.
Both Gael Linn and a Dublin-based consortium were passed over in favour of a lower bid from four local businessmen, including a former Fianna Fáil councillor and senator.
Údarás na Gaeltachta has been disposing of property in Gaeltacht areas due to funding cutbacks of more than €17 million, and the 13-house holiday complex at Eanach Mheain, Connemara, was earmarked for sale on this basis. A total of 11 bids were tendered on February 20th, and three bids were subsequently forwarded to the board for its monthly meeting in late February.
The highest bid of €1.955 million was lodged by a consortium of 13 people from Dublin, Meath and Leitrim led by Mr Paul McKeon, a businessman and accountant of Holmwood, Dublin 18.
The second highest bid of €1.505 million was lodged by Gael Linn, the Irish language organisation, which aimed to use the complex for educational courses - a proposal which matched the cultural aims of the Gaeltacht authority.
Lowest of the three bids, at €1.450 million, was lodged by former Fianna Fáil councillor and senator, Nioclás Ó Conchubhair, and three other local businessmen. They proposed to upgrade the houses into a four-star complex.
Údarás na Gaeltachta's management decided to accept the McKeon consortium bid, according to a memorandum obtained by Nuacht TG4. However, when the issue came up at the monthly board meeting, the authority's western sub-committee withdrew to discuss the proposal. The group is one of several regional committees within the authority dealing with matters pertaining to its immediate Gaeltacht area.
The western sub-committee is dominated by Fianna Fáil representatives, and Fine Gael representative Pól Ó Foighil was absent from the discussions as he had been involved in one of the other eight bids.
The sub-committee decided to accept the lowest bid by the Ó Conchubhair grouping on the basis that Mr Ó Conchubhair had a proven track record in local business and community development.
This was passed by the full board in spite of the fact that it was against the advice of its own management.
It represented a loss of €500,000 on the sale of a State asset, and it also ignored the Gael Linn plan for the complex.
Mr McKeon told The Irish Times he was "considering all options" in relation to refusal of his bid. He had not been given any reason for the decision by the Gaeltacht authority.
A spokesman for the Údarás said he could make no comment on the issue ahead of this week's board meeting. However, he confirmed that "a range of issues that arose as a result of the decision taken at the last board meeting" would be discussed in Waterville.
Individual board members have been reminded of the confidentiality of the issue in advance of the meeting.
