Council claims new lorries to save €200k

WHILE members of the local authority have faced complaints from the public, Clare County Council’s decision to buy 19 new commercial vehicles is actually going to mean a saving of around €200,000, it was claimed this week.

At Monday’s meeting of the council, a report by director of services Nora Kaye said the local authority could not show how the figure was arrived at, as the information is “commercially sensitive”.
In advance of the meeting, Councillors Oliver Garry and PJ Ryan asked for information on the savings that will be achieved through the purchase of the lorries.
At the meeting, the report outlined how the decision had been taken to purchase the machinery, highlighting three options that the council had looked at; to continue hiring the items, lease purchase them or purchase them outright. It was felt that the third option was the best one.
“With this option, the objective was to arrange payments on the basis of a ‘cash flow neutral’ scenario for the first four years. Thereafter, significant savings would accrue to the council, as the only outlay would be tax and insurance.” She also noted monies can be recouped from the Department of Transport if the vehicles are owned by the council.
Ms Kaye’s reply noted that some information requested could not be provided.
“In relation to the request for a detailed breakdown of costs between the plant hire costs and the cost of purchasing the new vehicles, this information is not being circulated as it is deemed to be commercially sensitive. In relation to the medium-long term savings to the Roadworks Programme, it is envisaged that the savings will be in the region of €200,000. However, this figure may change having regard to the level of activity, fuel and other costs and any further changes, which may come on stream from the Department of Transport.”
Councillor PJ Ryan had requested information on the lorries and said he hadn’t doubted that purchasing the vehicles was done to save money. However, he said the lack of information at councillors’ disposal had caused problems. “The problem I have is that members of the public would have approached me about getting a hedge cut and I’d say there is a financial shortfall. Then they’d hit you with ‘Ye can’t afford to cut the hedge but ye can afford to buy 19 new lorries’.”
He also said not providing all the information may lead to it being claimed that the council are trying to keep the figures from the public.
Councillor James Breen said he is very unhappy with the report, noting the failure to make all the information available is “an insult”.
Fine Gael Councillor Joe Arkins said while the saving is very welcome, there is an issue around communication. He said seeing the lorries on display on the Dock Road in Limerick, before they were delivered to the council, was the first that many of the members heard of the acquisition.
Councillor PJ Kelly said the purchases should have been flagged to the members when the estimates for the year were being prepared.
County manager Tom Coughlan rejected any accusation that the reply was an insult to members. He said the council had been trying to comply with legislation and that Freedom of Information legislation makes specific reference to commercially sensitive information.
He said the council would need to refer the information to the Information Commissioners office before releasing it. “I don’t insult members, I have no intention of doing that,” he added.