CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL paid €78m to contractors and €12m to consultants last year it has emerged after councillors probed senior management on the €8m deal to acquire lands by the Cliffs of Moher.
As per the Council’s 2024 Annual Financial Statement, €78,279,737 was spent on contractors, an increase on the €66,577,434 in 2023. Land costs were €2,525,930 in 2024, compared with the €9,351.143 of 2023.
Consultant fees jumped to €12.277,649 last year, from €9,767.198 in 2023. Deemed as ‘other’ expenditure was a bill of €26,043,599 which was up on the €18,240.411.
Regarding land acquired for housing, the Council paid €1,702,906 in 2024 and €50,000 in 2023 for lands in Claureen and Ashline.
Strategic landbanks were acquired in Kilrush, Liscannor, Bunratty, Lisdoonvarna, Crusheen, Kilkee and Mountshannon over the two years, €822,970 was spent in 2024 and €9,001,590 in 2023.
€299,553 was the spend in 2023 for infrastructural projects in Killaloe, Quin and Springfield (Clonlara).
Interim Chief Executive, Dr Carmel Kirby explained of the lands acquired for housing, as landbanks and infrastructural projects, “Additional costs (stamp duty, legal costs, professional fees) associated with the above acquisitions amount to €1,030,000. The lands were purchased from own resources. Where approved the costs are recouped from the relevant government departments) as projects are progressed”.
