ENVIRONMENT minister John Gormley is to be asked to intervene in the dispute about allegations of inappropriate housing allocations in the country's largest local authority.

Independent TD Finian McGrath said he is deeply concerned over rumours surrounding the misallocation of council-owned properties and that he had heard similar stories within his own constit­uency, Dublin North Central.

It is understood an internal report on the investigation has been circulated to the council's audit committee, although Dublin City Council could not confirm whether this would be made public.

McGrath said that a full independent inquiry into the allocations procedure is now required to replace those being carried out internally by management. His call has been backed up by independent councillor Damian O'Farrell, who also said an external probe "is the only way" to alleviate concerns.

McGrath said he will insist on action in the Dáil this week after a previous effort to raise the subject was dismissed as a matter for the local authority.

"There are a lot of stories going around that certain people seem to have closer relationships to senior management and, in particular, the housing department, than other people do. That concerns me," he said.

"I am very annoyed with the way this story is emerging and I am particularly concerned for the families on the waiting list. I am hearing other stories I am not happy about."

McGrath said he is supporting calls for an independent inquiry and will seek support.

"If there is nothing to hide then fine, we will get on with it."

O'Farrell has also put his support behind Councillor Mannix Flynn, who first called for an inquiry. O'Farrell said that the manner in which initial findings by council officials was explained at January's meeting was suspicious.

"I feel that the council are being a bit disingenuous," he said.

"They said there was six misallocations in the internal audit. That was fine, and then they came along and said that six were misallocated but five of them would have been allocated anyway, so it's only one.

"They are changing things. It doesn't matter if they would have qualified anyway."

While misallocations have been found to have taken place – where tenants have received medical priority status even though doctors said they did not qualify – the exact extent of what has been labeled a "culture of abuse" is unclear.