Outcry over council's €3m bill to house six Traveller families
Monday November 30 2009
A LOCAL authority has been criticised after it spent almost €3m to house just six families.
Clare County Council shelled out €500,000 on each house it built for six Traveller families.
In response to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request, the council confirmed that the cost of constructing six Traveller homes at Knockanean, adjacent to the Ennis bypass, was almost €3m.
The figures show that the cost of the scheme is €2.8m, with the cost of housing each family at €477,000.
Cost
But this has angered a member of the council's Traveller accommodation advisory committee -- who says the cost is too high for individual units.
In the FoI response, Clare County Council gave a breakdown of their costs.
The site was bought for €1.2m, while the build contract for the six homes was €1.5m, with technical fees/salaries for the project costing €190,488.
The recently appointed chair of the council's Traveller accommodation advisory committee, Brian Meaney said: "The costs are extremely high, given the number of units."
However, he said that with the council aiming to integrate more Travellers into the community, the use of Traveller-specific homes will become less common in the future.
"The Traveller-specific built accommodation is used as a stopgap and the cost of Traveller accommodation will not be as high in the future," he said.
However, one of the new residents and father of five children aged from seven years to four months, Patrick Mongans, said yesterday: "This is absolute luxury and paradise for us."
Mr Mongans confirmed that the rent on the property was €45 per week, which included the cost of refuse collection.
Prior to moving in to the new four-bedroom home, Mr Mongans said that he and his family were living in a caravan in the council's emergency halting site on the Quin Road in Ennis.
There, the family had to use an outdoor bathroom and Mr Mongans openly admits that the situation "was very hard".
Mr Mongans and his family also spent four months in the council's homeless unit after being asked to leave their rented accommodation when the landlady told the family that she was selling the home.
He said: "We heard after that she wasn't selling at all, but what can you do?"
Asked to comment on the council's spend on the homes, Mr Mongans said: "In fairness to them, they didn't spare any expense when they built it."
The council is spending €6m housing 18 Traveller families in Ennis and Ennistymon.
- GORDON DEEGAN
Irish Independent
