Aquatic Centre row costs taxpayers millions

TAXPAYERS have been landed with a multimillion euro legal bill after a state agency ignored the advice of the Attorney General and subsequently lost its Supreme Court case.

The protracted battle, between the Government agency which owns the National Aquatic Centre and its former managers, was also criticised in advance by the state’s spending watchdog, who said it did not make economic sense.

Yet, after both opinions were submitted to the Department of Sport, the state-owned Campus Stadium Ireland (CSID) spent five years fighting Dublin Waterworld Ltd (DWL) over the €10.5m VAT claim.