A civil servant who dealt with the sale of Wicklow land to Roadstone has said the Chief State Solicitor's office told him to accept their bid.
Philip Carroll, then Principal Officer with the Department of Energy, told the Moriarty Tribunal that he was not advised to negotiate with a second bidder businessman, Brendan Johnston.
The inquiry is investigating the government sale of 145 acres at Glen Ding to Roadstone by private treaty in 1991, despite previous commitments to go to public tender.
Mr Carroll said they agreed Roadstone's offer of £1.25million because it was 'spot on' while Mr Johnston's offer was just £800,000.
He said the Chief State Solicitor's office told him to bring Roadstone's offer to the Minister and did not advise him to negotiate with Mr Johnston by telling him they had a higher offer.
Mr Carroll described as outrageous a previous claim by Mr Johnston that he had been lied to during the negotiations.
