Japanese Knotweed bill queried by Mayo councillor

A COUNCILLOR has queried the amount of money being spent by Mayo County Council on eradicating Japanese Knotweed.

The answer, he was told, is 'not enough'.

Councillor John O'Malley claimed bringing in a company to inject the plant was a 'pure farce'.

He suggested it could be sprayed and that one spray would kill it off forever.

Responding, director of services Tom Gilligan said the budget for the past few years has been €75,000, which in his opinion was not enough.

Japanese Knotweed, he said, is a 'serious problem' in the county. It wasn't a matter of spraying it once. There was protocol that has to be adhered to.

“What we have in the budget is not enough,” he stated.