Minister Niall Collins responds to allegations surrounding sale of Limerick land

He has denied any wrongdoing regarding the matter.

Minister of State and Fianna Fáil TD Niall Collins has put out a statement responding to recent allegations regarding the sale of land by Limerick County Council 15 years ago in which he denies any wrongdoing. The allegations were first made last week by the news website The Ditch. They relate to the disposal of land by Limerick County Council in 2007 and 2008 and whether it was appropriate for the then-councillor Collins to have had a part in initiating the process. Collins was a member of the local authority until May 2007, before being elected to Dáil Éireann. In his first statement on the matter, issued to JOE by the Fianna Fáil press office, the TD said:

"In September 2008 at a statutory meeting of the Limerick County Council the sale of a property in Patrickswell was approved and sold following a transparent and open sales process, which was open to all. "For the record I was not a member of the council in September 2008, having been elected as a TD in May 2007. Prior to the sale in 2008, the property was advertised in the local public press. "When the council executive recommended to the Bruff LEA committee that the property should be put up for sale in January 2007, neither I nor my wife had any pecuniary or beneficial interest in that property. There was no disagreement to the executive’s recommendation."

Meanwhile, People Before Profit’s Paul Murphy has written to the Dáil’s business committee requesting time this week for Collins to make a statement to fellow TDs on the matter. Main image via Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie