Council could lose up to €1m

Date Published: 10-Jul-2007

The controversy over Galway City Council’s housing acquisition scheme has taken a new twist after it emerged that purchase contracts may contain clauses causing the local authority to lose hundreds of thousands of euro.

Director of Services for Housing Joe O’Neill has admitted that the City Council’s legal team are studying some of the contracts through which they purchased homes as they may contain a clause that the property can only be used as an ‘affordable’ home — therefore having to be sold on by the Council at a knockdown price.

Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Crowe raised the issue, saying he understood that some developers who sold units to the Council stipulated they could be for affordable use only.

“An issue has arisen in relation to a number of units,” said Mr. O’Neill. “Let me get this right and I’m not making a joke. Contracts are signed, but you don’t know if there’s something in them that they have to be affordable or not?