Menolly chief Séamus Ross

Developer Séamus Ross sold almost €24m worth of houses and sites last year through one of his companies, Drumloe Properties, an increase in turnover of almost 50% on the previous year.

Ross is best known as the owner of the Menolly group but he also owns half of Drumloe, with the remainder held by Michael Keogh.

The company paid a dividend of €22m in 2007, but made no payment the previous year. A spokesman for Drumloe Properties said the dividend was not paid to directors, but transferred to a related company.

The company is ultimately owned by Drumloe Holdings, an unlimited company, according to the accounts.

Drumloe said it was aware that the materials supplied by subcontractor and used at one of its developments "may not be fit for purpose" and may result in costs being incurred to rectify the matter. A contingent liability was included to cover this, but Drumloe said it was not in a position to estimate the likely costs.