Gardaí are examining claims that south Dublin residents demanded to be paid €225,000 to not object to a local housing development.
The neighbours wrote a letter to the developer, outlining their requests - but were refused, according to the Irish Independent.
The developer instead referred the incident to the Garda fraud squad.
Fionnán Sheehan, Ireland Editor with the Irish Independent, says it's not unheard of for residents to demand compensation - but not in this form.
He said: "Developers are also admitting that in other cases they have seen 'go-away' money basically being paid to people at the tail end of planning processes.
"Effectively what you'd regard as a settlement on the steps of the court.
"This case seems to be a bit different, due to the stage of the process at which it was coming and the sums involved."
