Taxpayer to foot council’s €25m costs

THE taxpayer will have to foot multi-millon euro damages awarded to a construction company that claimed it was wrongfully fired by Limerick City Council, it emerged last night.

The council was facing financial ruin after the High Court ruled two weeks ago it would not interfere with an arbitrator's decision to award an estimated €25 million in damages to Uniform Construction.

Uniform's €9.5m contract to work on Limerick's drainage scheme was terminated in 2001 because the council claimed it had failed to complete work on schedule. If the council had been forced to pay the damages, it would have been left in a serious financial crisis.