Traveller costs in Clare criticised

THE average cost of maintaining Traveller accommodation group scheme units in Clare is seven times the unit cost of standard local authority accommodation.

For the current year, Clare County Council has budgeted to spend €910,288 providing maintenance of its standard 1,550 local authority housing units compared to over €492,019 looking after 65 Traveller accommodation units.

In 2009, the council spent €565,000 on maintenance and management of Traveller accommodation sites. This figure increased to €628,000 in 2010.