Waterford Council bought 63 vans for no reason

There have been calls for the publication of an internal Waterford City and County Council probe into how €1.5m was spent on 63 new vans for no specific reason.

Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane said more transparency is needed after the council refused to explain how it has addressed the issue, declined to provide any details on how the mistake happened, and if the taxpayer has been left with an unnecessary cost.

In a letter to the Public Accounts Committee , TDs were told that at the start of this year the council bought 63 Volkswagen vans for €1.5m. It said management told officials in May the vans were not needed and would be sent back within three weeks. However, the councilchose to keep the vehicles, with the vans left unused on the authority’s premises.