PARLIAMENTARY Questions concerning Government decorating contracts awarded to Dale Place Young, a close confidante of Premier Jennifer Smith and the spouse of "Man With The Golden Paint Brush" Paul Young, will "almost certainly" be tabled when the House of Assembly reconvenes next month.

The Mid-Ocean News understands the Opposition United Bermuda Party is preparing a series of formal questions relating to Government contracts Mrs. Young won to redecorate rooms in the Cabinet Office and the VIP lounge at the Bermuda Airport.

Mrs. Young led a team of volunteers who redecorated the Premier's home The Laurels following the 1998 General Election. Funds used for that project were raised privately while the monies awarded to Mrs. Young for the Cabinet Office and Airport projects came from the public purse.

Mrs. Young, a real estate agent for the Property Group, is understood not to have a formal background in interior design. The Opposition wants Government to reveal details of the bidding and tendering processes and the final amounts spent on her two contracts.

The realty agency Mrs. Young is affiliated with, the Property Group, was in the headlines two years ago when it attempted to broker an abortive deal to purchase the $5 million Pitts Bay Road mansion Cragmore as a new headquarters for the Ministry of Tourism.

That bizarre scandal broke when it was revealed Government had recruited Bermuda-based oil broker John Deuss and accountancy chief Jan Spiering to raise funds from the private sector that could be added to the $1 million sum Government was prepared to put towards the mansion's purchase price.

Mrs. Young was named as one of the first trustees under the Progressive Labour Party Trustees Act 2001. The trust was reportedly set up to allow the PLP to engage in the real estate business. Mrs. Young's husband - American Paul Young, whose name was removed from the Bermuda Stop List by former Home Affairs Minister Paula Cox - is at the eye of the Bermuda Housing Corporation scandal having been paid $810,000 for painting work during a seven-month period last year.

Since the Mid-Ocean News revealed details of the BHC payments to Mr. Young, he has made no public comment on the matter.

The 44-year-old Mr. Young has US convictions for possession of cocaine, larceny and driving without a valid registration document.

Public court records show that Mr. Young pleaded guilty to stealing five women's suits, valued at $670 in September, 1981. He was fined $50 at Boston Municipal Court, but did not immediately pay the fine and his probation was repeatedly extended until October, 1995.

He was convicted of possessing a class B illegal substance at Waltham District Court, Massachusetts, in May, 1986 and was fined $140.

And Mr. Young was fined $500 for his motoring offence at Boston Municipal Court in June, 1995, the same year he was placed on the Stop List and prevented from entering Bermuda, following allegations that he had been working illegally on the island. In December, 1998, Mr. Young successfully applied to be removed from the Stop List.