What’s ‘cost-neutral’ about offering a prime piece of public property as benefit in kind?

THE spin doctors have been busy again.

In your report on the Cork City Library upgrade at the Grand Parade (August 10), the development was described as “cost-neutral” to Cork City Council — in fact it is anything but.

What has happened in fact is that the developers have been given a section of prime city centre property owned by the City Council/City Library as payment for reconstructing the library at the existing site. How can this be described as “cost-neutral”?