Report validates residents’ concerns

YESTERDAY the Comptroller and Auditor General’s annual report highlighted many areas of serious concern regarding the process that led to the purchase of Thornton Hall, the price paid and the lack of consistency in evaluating the different sites (Irish Examiner, September 28).

This report validates what the residents of Thornton have been saying for the past 20 months. We believe an independent inquiry into all aspects of the purchase of Thornton Hall, and its suitability for this proposed development, is now warranted. If the amount paid for the site and the process used was flawed and anti-competitive, it stands to reason that the suitability of the site must now be called into question.

This site is clearly unsuitable and no amount of taxpayers’ money can make it suitable. In addition to the €30 million already spent on the land, up to a further €40m will have to be spent on providing basic infrastructure such as sewerage, water and electricity — and that’s before an access road is built or the site is excavated.