A four-bedroom house built to accommodate a Traveller family in a Shannon-based halting site has remained unoccupied since the €1.8 million site opened three years ago, it emerged yesterday.
The house was built at a cost of €140,000 and now in an attempt to have the house finally occupied, Clare County Council is to spend an additional €167,000 to refurbish the house into two self-contained units to house two young Traveller couples.
Local council member, Tony Mulcahy (FG), admitted yesterday to being "appalled and stunned" at the cost of the refurbishment. He said: "It's a savage amount. You could build a four-bedroom house for €167,000. I will be looking for answers as to why the refurbishment is costing so much."
The Ballymurtagh halting site - made up of two houses and six service bays to accommodate eight families - was opened in September 2000 in an attempt to address the absence of any serviced accommodation for Travellers in the Shannon area.
A spokeswoman for the council's Traveller Accommodation Unit said yesterday that the house was not occupied after the family earmarked to be moved into it, emigrated to England.
She said that "in the interests of compatibility the council did not move any other family into the home". She said two young couples currently living in the adjoining four-bedroom home are to move into the house.
The council is currently seeking planning permission to sub-divide the home and has already secured approval from the Department of the Environment to spend the €167,000.
Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said yesterday that it is "disappointing that the house has been left idle for so long especially when there is a need for housing".
In response to any criticism the public may have on the money spent on the proposal, Cllr McCarthy said. "There is a public consultation process now under way and the public can make their views known on the plan if they wish."
