A vast swathe of publicly-owned forest with huge heritage value has been put on the market by Coillte - the custodian of Irish forests.
The 39 acre site on the Dublin-Wicklow border - which boasts bronze age cooking pits - is on the market for just €250,000.
Dublin TD Richard Boyd Barrett got a response from Coillte that suggested the land may be used for residential or industrial purposes and that the sale was prompted by prospective buyers.
He told Dublin Live: "Our state forestry company is selling off part of our precious forest estate, which has significant archaeological value, for crumbs.
"It is more than concerning that this sale seems to have been prompted by someone approaching Coillte. Since when is it the job of Coillte to facilitate people who want to buy public forestry."
He added: "The sale should be halted because it is not completed yet and we need answers as to why this was even considered".
Coillte's response read: "Coillte’s Property Team have undertaken many land transactions in recent years, including the sale of small plots for residential expansion as well as larger sites for infrastructure or development."
They also confirmed a party had approached about purchasing the land.
The letter read: "In relation to your specific queries on this land sale, Coillte was approached by an interested party in relation to the purchase of these lands."
The sale of the land was raised with Taoiseach Micheal Martin in the Dail on Wednesday.
Mr Barrett said: "On the week of COP26 the Government is speaking out both sides of it's mouth on the issue of forestry. I was shocked to at the forestry dashboard figures.
"While we are talking about protecting the forest estate, in reality five to 10 times more tress are being cut down every year consistently then are being planted."
Mr Barrett presented a copy of the advertisement for the plot to the Taoiseach and asked, "does the Government know about this?"
"There is a right of way going through this forest. It is a public amenity forest. There are Bronze Age cooking pits in this forest. It is of extreme geological significance and Coillte are flogging it off."
He added: "That is absolutely shocking. €250,000 for 39 acres of forest, that stinks apart from anything else...that is utterly unacceptable."
The Taoiseach responded that he would look into it after he suggested Mr Barrett can give misleading contributions to the Dail.
"He has a habit of coming in and raising an issue, and when I research it, it turns out not to be quite the same as the Deputy presented".
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