Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There has been a lot of commentary over the past week about the sale of land in Patrickswell, County Limerick. It has been reported that in December 2006 a solicitor acting on behalf of the wife of the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, wrote to the council seeking to purchase the land and that then, the following month, councillors, including Deputy Collins, voted to allow the council to dispose of the land. At that meeting he did not declare his wife's correspondence to the council, and the land was subsequently sold to his wife in 2008. Will the Taoiseach advise if he has spoken to the Minister of State about this? I know the Taoiseach has made clear in media reports that the Minister of State should have recused himself from that meeting, but has the Minister of State given the Taoiseach assurances that he is not in breach of the Local Government Act by not declaring an interest or recusing himself in that vote? Will the Taoiseach confirm to the House that he is satisfied that the Minister of State is not in breach of section 177 of the Local Government Act?

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