A Tipperary County Councillor has expressed concerns at the amount of money spent by the local authority on private consultants.
Independent Seamie Morris had submitted a Freedom of Information request in relation to how much had been spent on capital projects such as the Historic Quarter and Rialto Cinema in Nenagh.
Speaking on Tipp Today earlier the Nenagh Councillor said he was shocked by the figures.
“I was amazed to find out that Tipperary County Council have paid out €11.2 million to consultants since 2019.
“When you drill down into it – and there’s a fair bit of drilling in the information I got back – I found out that for the 36 Council houses built in Nenagh and Portroe over the last couple of years we paid out €380,000 in architect fees when we have our own full time architect. It’s a crazy way of doing things
Councillor Morris said this ‘red tape’ is adding to the length of time it takes the local authority to construct social housing.
Speaking on Tipp Today earlier the Nenagh based representative said it’s no wonder people are complaining about the lack of new houses being provided by Tipperary County Council.
However he pointed out that the council’s hands are tied because of the current system.
“For every council house that’s being built I’m averaging out they’re spending €10,500 on architects fees – for every house!
“Our own architect draws up the plans for the houses locally here but because of the way the money has to be drawn down you have to use these other architects to draw down the money
“It’s the process – it’s flawed – it’s an 18 months process in particular just for housing. That’s before you even put a block in the ground, before the builder moves in.”
