Councillor Vincent Blake supported a proposal to sell a patch of land near Baltinglass, Co Wicklow to Timmins at a council meeting on January last.

The move enraged some of his council colleagues who believe he breached ethics legislation on conflict-ofinterest grounds and should have abstained from the vote.

The Sunday Tribune has learned that the Department of the Environment and the Standards in Public Office Commission (SPOC) are both investigating the controversy.

A spokesperson for environment minister Dick Roche said, "A councillor has written to us about the matter and the department are going to examine it."

The 2001 Local Government Act requires members of local authorities to disclose an interest if the business of their employer comes before the council.

"The matter is being considered by the commission, " an SPOC spokesman confirmed.

Nineteen councillors were present for the vote on 8 January, with 17 of them voting in favour of the proposal, one abstaining and one voting against it.

Blake told the Sunday Tribune, "My voting on the day had an insignificant effect on the vote. If it had been a tight vote, it might have had effect but in these circumstances my vote had a minimal effect on the day."

The row centres on a vote over the sale of 375sq m of land at Bawnogue, Baltinglass to a number of members of the Timmins family for Euro280,000.

Green Party councillor Deirdre de Burca lodged formal complaints about Blake's actions with both Roche and Wicklow County Council's ethics registrar. She said: "He has shown a complete disregard for the ethics legislation that we signed up to. We are legally bound to absent ourselves if there is any conflict of interest."

Independent councillor Tommy Cullen, who has also written a letter of complaint to Roche, said: "The department of environment must act to bring public administration in Wicklow to a more accountable and transparent practice."

A spokeswoman for Wicklow County Council confirmed that its ethics registrar referred the issue to the Standards of Public Office Commission some time ago.