More than €12k a week spent on Traveller accommodation

THIS week’s Clare County Council budget document shows that by the end of 2012, the local authority expects to have spent over €630,000 on the maintenance and management of Traveller accommodation.
The council had budgeted a sum of €435,000 for these purposes but the actual amount is going to be far higher, coming in at more than €12,000 per week.
The council has budgeted €443,000 for the same purposes in 2013 but a number of councillors claim the amount of spending has been excessive in recent times.
Councillor Patricia McCarthy is chairperson of the council’s Housing, Social and Cultural Policy Committee and she outlined developments in housing over the last 12 months and plans for the future.
Regarding Traveller accommodation, the budget document stated, “The 2013 budget includes the sum of €249k in respect of maintenance of 11 group schemes in the county. The legal costs provision for 2013 has been maintained at the 2012 level to fund the cost of defending against ongoing complaints of alleged discrimination under the Equal Status Act. The council has made a submission to the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government seeking the introduction of regulation to govern the processes associated with the referral and processing of complaints under the act.
“The security cost at Beechpark has continued during 2012 and the efforts of the council to let the three refurbished dwellings to approved applicants have not, as yet, proved successful. With the commissioning of the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government funded pilot CCTV system before year end, no provision is made for security costs in 2013.”
Councillor McCarthy questioned spending money on Traveller accommodation that has been subject to criminal damage, before a resolution has been found. She also said the current situation “cannot be allowed to continue”.
Green Party councillor Brian Meaney said if the council spent as much per unit on local authority stock as on Traveller accommodation units, the total amount would come to over €10 million.
Regarding the costs, he said he found it incomprehensible “that this council and the taxpayer has to bear the burden of this cost”.
He said it’s now time for some new thinking. “We simply can’t continue to throw money at the problem. It has gone on for the last 30 years and it’s time to call a halt.”
Housing director of services Bernadette Kinsella said much of the expenditure on Traveller accommodation was in relation to security at Beechpark, while she added the council has made a successful application to be reimbursed for it.
Ms Kinsella also told the meeting €156,000 was spent on security at Beechpark this year. However, she said the current security contract will come to an end once CCTV is installed and this should be done early in the new year, at the latest.
She said there would be a cost of €250,000 for CCTV but it would cover two sites and money is available from central Government for it.
Councillor Tommy Brennan said two sites for Travellers have now been “almost completely demolished” and he urged the council to consider converting them for use by the settled community.