Mayo councillor questions street cleaning costs of €326,000

THE cost of street cleaning - €326,000 for the year - in the Castlebar district has been questioned by Councillor Michael Kilcoyne.

The streets of the county town are dirty, he told a local municipal district meeting. Now was an opportunity to clean them. When was the last time the sweeper swept the streets, he asked.

MD head Iarla Moran said some washing has taken place on the main street, with lights columns washed.

Being in lockdown, the council did not have the ability to do the work but further washing is on the programme of works to get done.

Senior engineer Ann Sweeney explained that street cleaning includes litter collection, which is done every day.

The sweeper, she added, was in the town two weeks ago.

Councillor Kilcoyne said this was a 'colossal' amount of money for street cleaning that was not happening, adding that 'lockdown is the excuse for everything'.

Why was it costing €6,000 a week, he asked, requesting a report for the next meeting.