Council only has cash for essential work

Date Published: 21-Apr-2009

GALWAY City Council could only commit to the most essential infrastructure works for the next three years with development contribution levies likely to bring in just €1m this year – plummeting from €9m at the height of the boom, the city manager warned last night.

Councillor Daniel Callanan (Ind) demanded to know where all the development levies had been spent over the last four years after he learned that “not a shilling was in the coffers” from the fees paid by developers.

In 2006 the total collected through development levies was €7.7m, which shot up to €9.2m in 2007. He asked the manager Joe MacGrath to provide councillors with a report of how that money had been spent.

Mr MacGrath said Cllr Callanan appeared to have forgotten that the Council had undertaken the most…