Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 176: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he is holding an inquiry into the disposal by Limerick City Council of a portion of the Peoples' Park in Limerick to a developer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7512/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Under section 211 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, land acquired by a local authority may be sold, leased or exchanged. Section 183 of the Local Government Act 2001 provides for notification of any proposed disposal of land by a local authority to the elected members of that authority, who may resolve that the disposal should not be carried out or that it should be carried out in accordance with terms specified in the resolution. This notification was made to Limerick city councillors in the case referred to in the question in March 2004.

A local authority is required to obtain the consent of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to a proposed land disposal only in cases where the price or rent involved is not the best reasonably obtainable. The local government auditor, in the context of the accounts of Limerick City Council for the year ended 31 December 2004, has scrutinised the value obtained from this land disposal and requested Limerick City Council to get an independent market valuation on this site. The auditor's report for 2004 notes the conclusion of that independent valuation that the price paid by the developer for the 0.44 acre site in 2002 was the full market value, having regard to the exceptional price achieved on the open market for a larger and superior shaped site adjoining the subject property.