Cork County Council has refused to reveal what went wrong when it paid €1.5m to build a vehicle underpass below a railway line that is now filled in with earth between two fallow fields.

The response of a local authority to FoI requests on a €1.5m underpass illustrates the difficulties in examining how public monies are spent, writes Investigative Correspondent Conor Ryan.

Cork City Council has been called on to be more transparent in its conduct and publish all of its correspondence with the local government auditor.

Council urged to improve its financial practices, says Investigative Correspondent Conor Ryan

Kilkenny County Council has been criticised for sanctioning excessive fees to design a housing project.

ON MONDAY evening Waterford City’s manager, Michael Walsh, suspended the council meeting to address an article which had appeared in the Irish Examiner.

Waterford City Council will spend €2.2m to buy 11 houses it was informed were worth considerably less than half that amount.

Two county councils have had to make substantial settlements with the tax authorities because they failed to properly account for staff allowances.

A local authority spent almost €6m on vehicle hire and housing maintenance, in breach of national and EU procurement and tendering regulations.

Cork City Council has spent almost €100,000 storing plants and trees from the Diarmuid Gavin-designed Sky Garden.

The country’s top garda has admitted there will be “significant gaps” in the force as a result of almost 300 gardaí retiring in the first two months of 2012.

ALMOST €132 million is owed to local authorities nationwide by builders in unpaid development contributions, the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard yesterday.

LOCAL councillors and council staff are to be given training in financial management to improve the smooth running of local government.

RECENT media revelations relating to councillors’ expenses make me even more concerned at the practice of local authorities sending councillors to conferences.