Over €250,000 spent on legal fees in developing Ennis relief road

ALMOST a quarter of million euros in legal fees was spent as part of the development of the Ennis Northern Inner Relief Road, a meeting of Clare County Council heard this week.
The first 10 months of this year has seen Clare County Council spend €571,000 on legal expenses according to figures released by the local authority. Last year the council paid €1,083,000.
The cost of legal advice to the council has prompted calls for the employment of an in-house legal team. Councillor Christy Curtin, who had requested a breakdown of fees paid to suppliers by the council in 2011 and 2012, questioned the high cost of legal advice.
“We are now in budgetary mode when all items of expenditure are subject to scrutiny for possible savings… The figure of €571,000 for 10 months in 2012 is a considerable sum in the present economic climate and merits a further breakdown in order to identify a reduction to an absolute minimum working cost,” he said.
Councillor Joe Arkins commented, “The costs are quite considerable. The Northern Relief Road in Ennis’ legal fees for almost a quarter of a million.” Councillor Arkins suggested that the council look at the possibility of in house legal representation.
“I don’t think that the local authority can continue down this road, the general public are looking for value for money and I’m not sure this does.”
Councillor James Breen pointed out that this motion was previously put forward by then county councillor, Senator Martin Conway a number of years ago.
County manager Tom Coughlan told the councillors that while Senator Conway’s motion had been approved by councillors, “every motion adopted can’t be implemented if there is not enough funding available. It depends on particular circumstances”.
He added that every expenditure by the council is subject to scrutiny with regards to efficiency and savings. “If we didn’t have any legal costs life would be simpler, or if cases that are taken are agreed quickly. But there is a lot of toing and froing and it is an expensive system.”
Mr Coughlan told the councillors he was unsure if changing the current system would be more cost effective.
“It is something that we need to monitor, and we are monitoring,” he said. In relation to the costs of the Northern Inner Relief Road in Ennis he stated, “It was a particularly difficult acquisition, the fees paid did not just refer to conveyancy. There were significant legal costs involved.”
The meeting also heard that a total cost of architectural, civil and mechanical engineering fees were €930,000 from January to October of this year. For the same period auctioneering fees were €48,000 and energy fees were €3,228,000.