*An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Mr Keegan had said that a now former official in CODEMA had forged the signature of a former City Manager on an application. Mr Keegan was in fact referring to a former official. It isn't clear where the official was from. We are happy to correct the position and apologise for any confusion. Mr Keegan became an assistant manager of Dublin City Council in 1993. CODEMA was established in 1997. This article has now been amended to reflect this correction.
Dublin City Council's Chief Executive Owen Keegan recounted a story of an official "forging" the signature of the then city manager in the mid-1990s.
The comments were made at a conference celebrating 50 years of EU membership in the Mansion House in which he appeared to reference the establishment of the agency. Mr Keegan said: "There was a funny story about the CODEMA.
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"I was on the management team [DCC's executive] back in the mid-90s. A proposal came up from a very enthusiastic staff member."
Mr Keegan said that the management team decided that this was not the time, but claimed: "The official concerned forged the city manager's signature on the application and it was successful.
"We ended up without that official but with an energy management agency. I was somewhat conflicted because that was a great decision."
Mr Keegan indicated the official was let go from their role.
The crowd gathered in the Mansion House's Oak Room laughed at the anecdote as Mr Keegan also chuckled.
CODEMA or Dublin's Energy Agency provides energy and climate mitigation services to the four local authorities in Dublin. It was established in 1997.
Independent Councillor Mannix Flynn has called for a "full investigation" into the incident and for Mr Keegan to clarify the comments.
Mr Keegan also called the failed White Water Rafting Project a "spectacular failure".
He said: "I was reflecting on a rather inglorious episode in my earlier career in the early 80s before we fully embraced the benefits of free trade. I worked as an official in the Department of the Environment.
"It was a construction division and one of our tasks was to take phone calls from irate monopoly producers of building materials concerned [about] the infiltration of cheaper, equal quality EU products into the construction sector.
"My task was to pick on and identify poor officials in local authorities and try and get them to put pressure on the contractors to amend their ways.
"I am proud to say I was as unsuccessful at that as I was in my later career at delivering White Water Rafting facilities - another spectacular failure on my record."
Mr Keegan is set to retire at the end of this year from his role as city manager in what has been a sometimes controversial tenure.
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