A former deputy chairman of An Bord Pleanála has pleaded guilty at a district court in Co Cork to making false or misleading declarations of interest to the State planning appeals body.
Paul Hyde, of Castlefields, Baltimore, in west Cork, pleaded guilty to two of nine summonses against him.
He will be sentenced on Friday.
Mr Hyde, who is an architect, was appointed a member of An Bord Pleanála in 2014 and in January 2019 he was appointed deputy chairman, the second most senior member of the body.
He stood back from his position in May of last year amid controversy over his conduct in his role, and last July he resigned.
Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien appointed Senior Counsel Remy Farrell to investigate allegations of potential conflicts of interest against Mr Hyde, who denied any wrongdoing.
Mr Farrell's report was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
In March, Mr Hyde was before the District Court in Skibbereen charged with nine counts of making false or misleading declarations of interest to An Bord Pleanála between 2014 and 2022.
This afternoon he pleaded guilty to two of the nine counts against him, relating to 2014 and 2018, when he was a member of the board and prior to him become its deputy chairman.
Prosecuting barrister John Berry told Judge James McNulty that the guilty pleas to two counts were being accepted on a "full facts" basis.
This means pleas to just two counts of the nine counts were accepted by the State on the basis that the defence accepted the full facts of the case being offered by the prosecution.
Mr Berry indicated that the remaining seven charges would be withdrawn at the conclusion of the proceedings.
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The error in the 2014 declaration relates to a small parcel of property at Pope's Hill in Cork, described in court as "a ransom strip" - a piece of land which is of no value in itself for development purposes but which might be of strategic value to a third party or to the owner of an adjoining parcel of land.
This parcel of land was not declared in 2014 and Mr Hyde now accepts that it should have been, the court was told.
In 2018, Mr Hyde failed to declare a large portfolio of properties other than his principle private residences at Douglas in Cork and Baltimore in west Cork.
The court was told the undeclared properties had been placed in receivership at the time and Mr Hyde had no control over them and was not benefitting from them.
Defence barrister Paula McCarthy said Mr Hyde mistakenly believed he did not have to declare any of these properties, but he accepted now that he did.
Judge James McNulty said ignorance of the law was no defence.
He said it was a very serious matter and he wished to give it due consideration.
Judge McNulty indicated that he was not prepared to dispose of the matter under the Probation of Offenders' Act or without imposing a conviction.
He said he will pass sentence on Friday.
The maximum penalty that can be imposed on Mr Hyde on each charge is six months in jail or a fine of €5,000.
