Millions of euro in council transactions probed by Gardaí as RTÉ Investigates shines spotlight on Ireland’s local authorities

 – 12h ago

Gardaí are investigating the discovery of forged building compliance certs held by Mayo County Council in relation to an €11m amenity, RTÉ Investigates will reveal tonight.

RTÉ Investigates: Council Chamber Secrets, examines how local authorities function and go about their business. 

Ireland’s local authorities spend more than €5bn a year and have a huge range of responsibilities, yet they remain outside oversight bodies like the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee.

Twenty years after a law was introduced to allow inquiries into councils, it can still not be used as no minister has signed a necessary order. 

The programme will also reveal how €1.8m worth of transactions involving Limerick City and County Council and Irish Water are under Garda investigation following the dismissal of a council employee.

It also discovered that in Galway the discharge of untreated sewage from the council-owned public toilets prompted an ethics investigation into allegations of gross misconduct.

In Cavan, according to RTÉ, the council refused to release an internal inquiry report into the generation of false invoices citing a Garda investigation, which An Garda Síochána said it was not aware of.

John Devitt, the chief executive of Transparency International, said: “Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas, and politicians are not inclined to want more meaningful or thorough oversight of them or to disclose more of their financial interests.

“It’s called local government, but it doesn’t mean that it’s any less important than national government. For that reason, public have to have confidence that it’s being managed and overseen as it ought to be.”

RTÉ Investigates: Council Chamber Secrets airs at 9.35pm on RTÉ One tonight, March 23.