Council claws back €2m in land deal debacle

CORK County Council has struck a deal to buy a controversial 20-acre site in North Cork, which is the subject of two probes, saving itself nearly €2 million on a contract of sale it had previously signed.

The site hit the headlines last July on foot of a complaint to the council by Pushkin Developments.

Pushkin alleged that two bankers had agreed to purchase the site from the company for €8 million, and complained that — even before the company had signed on the dotted line — the businessmen were in negotiations with the local authority to sell the land on for €11.6 million.

The complaint was made two weeks after the council signed the €11.6 million deal for the land at Deerpark, Charleville.

The local authority paid a deposit, but refused to pay the balance after receiving Pushkin’s complaint.

It also started an internal investigation and suspended a senior member of staff.

County manager Maurice Moloney confirmed yesterday that the council has now purchased the land for €9.75 million.

Mr Moloney told the Irish Examiner that the council had sought two independent valuations on the site, which came in at around €9.4 million.

Allowing for a time delay and inflation, he said, he considered the €9.75 million price as “a very, very good deal.”

“We’re very happy with it given current market values. We now own the land, and effectively we have saved the bones of 2 million,” the county manager added.

Mr Moloney said the council’s internal inquiry should be completed by next month. It is understood that the council official at the centre of the probe remains suspended.

Gardaí have also launched a separate inquiry into the allegations, but it is not clear when then probe will be completed. They only started their investigation a few weeks ago.

Claims had also been made that the council was offered the land for around €4 million three years ago.

However, Mr Moloney said yesterday that council officials “had established clearly that the property was not offered to them.”

He declined to comment further on the internal investigation, or confirm whether the suspended official would shortly return to work or not. It is understood that the man has consistently claimed that he did nothing wrong and followed the council’s laid-down procedures to the full.

The council put a dedicated team onto the internal investigation, interviewed a number of people in relation to the matter and trawled through numerous files of correspondence. Among those questioned are members of staff, auctioneers and developers.

Mr Moloney said that the council intended to use the land to construct houses. It was already zoned for housing development when sold by Pushkin Developments.