CITY TRIBUNE
Staff alleged to have abused system to get council homes for themselves
A number of senior staff at City Hall have been accused of securing affordable social housing – despite earning in excess of the income limits – and of ‘cherry-picking’ high-spec homes destined for people on the waiting list.
In one case, an employee allegedly secured an affordable house in an estate on the east side of the city – despite earning around twice the income limit and already owning a home – which is now rented out.
Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh raised the claims in the Seanad this week, and said he will be passing on the documentation he has to the Gardaí and to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government.
It’s believed the City Council is already trawling through files from its Housing Department. A spokesperson said the allegations were “very serious” and are being considered by the local authority.
The Housing Minister was asked to investigate the claims made in the Seanad this week by Senator Ó Clochartaigh that several Council employees were given social housing, despite not meeting criteria, and this was done for their personal gain at a cost to the taxpayer.
His claims come despite an assurance by City Council Chief Executive Brendan McGrath in 2014 that a case being investigated at that point – involving two senior staff members and a house in Leargán on the Western Distributor Road – was a “one off” case. That case was first revealed by the Galway City Tribune in May 2014.
In the Seanad yesterday (Thursday), Minister Simon Coveney was represented by Minister of State, Damien English – Senator Ó Clochartaigh called for an investigation into the allegations “that officials in Galway City Council abused the Affordable Social Housing scheme for personal gain”.
“I have been given documentation which suggests that a senior management official with Galway City Council was allocated a house by another council official under the Affordable Housing Scheme and that he was not eligible for this.
“It is claimed the income limit for this scheme was €36,500, his income would have been double that and should have deemed him ineligible for the scheme.
“It is being asserted that the official in question has since retired, receiving a pension lump sum and it is claimed that he had already had a primary residence prior to purchasing this house and that this new house is now being rented out.
“I am told that a number of other senior officials also acquired houses, which are essentially assets of the taxpayer, and they would appear to have profited financially in that the houses have risen dramatically in value, accruing them a significant dividend at the cost of the taxpayer,” said Senator Ó Clochartaigh.
Minister English replied that Minister Coveney has no role in the day-to-day operation of local authorities, and that it would be a matter for the Council internally in the first instance.
However, he added that the information which the senator claimed to have was “very, very serious” and asked for it to be passed to the Department. He said he could also contact the Gardaí if he felt it necessary.
Speaking afterwards, the Senator said: “It was not a very engaging answer, there doesn’t seem to be any guidelines in place to deal with such serious matters. I have no option but to pass on what I know to the Department, and will probably forward it to the Gardaí.”
A spokesperson for the City Council said: “We are aware of the speeches made by Senator Ó Clochartaigh in the Seanad. There were very serious allegations and Galway City Council is considering these and have nothing further to say on the matter at this point.”
For more on this story – and the 2014 investigation – see this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Buy a digital edition of this week’s Galway City Tribune here, or download the app for Android or iPhone.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
The new Salmon Weir pedestrian and cycle bridge will be officially opened to the public next Friday, May 26.
Work on the €10 million bridge got underway in April 2022, before the main structure was hoisted into place in early December.
A lunchtime tape-cutting ceremony will take place on Friday, as the first pedestrians and cyclists traverse the as-yet-unnamed bridge.
The Chief Executive of Galway City Council, Brendan McGrath, previously said the bridge, once opened, would remove existing conflicts between pedestrians, cyclists and traffic “as well as facilitating the Cross-City Link public transport corridor over the existing 200-year-old bridge”.
The naming of the new bridge has been under discussion by the Council’s Civic Commemorations Committee since late last year.
One name that has been in the mix for some time is that of the first woman in Europe to graduate with an engineering degree – Alice Perry.
Ms Perry, who was from Wellpark, graduated from Queen’s College Galway (now University of Galway) in 1906. The university’s engineering building is named in her honour.
The bridge was built by Jons Civil Engineering firm in County Meath and was assembled off-site before being transported to Galway. Funding for the project was provided in full by the National Transport Authority and the European Regional Development Fund.
(Photo: Sheila Gallagher captured the city’s new pedestrian footbridge being raised on the south side of the Salmon Weir Bridge in December. It will officially open next Friday, May 26).
From the Galway City Tribune – Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Kieran O’Donnell was labelled a “disgrace” for overturning councillors’ decisions to rezone land in the new City Development Plan.
Minister O’Donnell (pictured) confirmed in a letter to Council Chief Executive Brendan McGrath last week that he was reversing 25 material alternations made by councillors to the CDP 2023-29. He made the decision on the advice of Office of Planning Regulator (OPR).
Minister O’Donnell directed that 14 land parcels that were subject to land-use zoning changes by councillors as part of the Material Alterations to the Draft CDP should be reversed.
He directed that a further 11 land parcels in the city should become “unzoned”.
The Minister found that the CDP had not been made in a manner consistent with recommendations of the OPR, which required specific changes to the plan to ensure consistency with the national planning laws and guidelines.
At last week’s Council meeting Cllr Eddie Hoare (FG) asked for clarity on the process by which councillors could rezone the lands that had been changed by the Minister’s direction.
Cllr Declan McDonnell said, “What he [Minister O’Donnell] has done is an absolute disgrace”.
And he asked: “Do we have to have another development plan meeting to deal with it?”
Both Cllrs Hoare and McDonnell wondered what would become of the lands that were rezoned or unzoned by the ministerial direction.
Mr McGrath said the Council had put forward an argument in favour of retaining the material alterations in the plan, but ultimately the Minister sided with OPR.
He said if councillors want to make alterations to the new plan, they could go through the process of making a material alteration but this was lengthy.
The Save Roscam Peninsula campaign welcomed the Minister’s decision.
In a statement to the Galway City Tribune, it said the direction would mean the Roscam village area on the Roscam Peninsula will be unzoned and a number of land parcels would revert back to agriculture/high amenity.
A spokesperson for the campaign said: “the material alterations made by city councillors following lobbying by developers continued the long-standing practice of councillors facilitating a developer-led plan rather than an evidence- and policy-based plan that meets the needs of the city.
“The Minister’s direction is an important step in restoring confidence in the planning system. It is clear from the City Council’s own evidence on future housing projections that there was no requirement to zone these lands for residential purposes in order to meet the needs of the targeted population increase up to 2029,” the spokesperson added.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
