Right To Know sought copies of contracts between Cork City Council and any companies charged with maintenance or caretaking of traveller accommodation.
One notable company was Four Seasons Promotions Limited trading as “Animal Collection Services” (ACS), which is a curious name for a company providing maintenance and security company at Traveller accommodations sites.
Our specific request sought:
1. Any and all contracts between the council and contracted companies/individuals for the provision of general maintenance repairs & caretaking works at Traveller Specific Accommodation in the period 2016 to 2021 inclusive, for all sites for which the council has contracted those works out via Tender award or otherwise.
2. Any other contracts (security or other) between the council and third parties in relation to Traveller halting sites in the city for the period 2016 to 2021 inclusive.
3. A copy or breakdown of any and all invoices/payments made to those companies/individuals under any contracts for the years 2021, 2020 and 2019 inclusive.
Payments were broken down by year, but specifics of invoices were refused:
Payments 2019 – €174,949.05
Payments 2020 – €139,188.19
Payments 2021 – €202,768.36
Cork City Council has encountered serious criticism for its relationship with the Traveller community in recent years, in particular in relation to the Ombudsman report into Spring Lane Halting Site.
The contracts with different providers, and their obligations under those contracts are detailed here:
Given the god awful mess the National Broadband Plan is now in, it is worth reviewing the strange tale of the Metropolitan Area Networks and eNET – a tale we are now involved in via FOI litigation….
COMMUNICATIONS minister Denis Naughten told Facebook he was “appalled” by an undercover report into the company especially because he had publicly defended the social media giant on several occasions.
