EXCLUSIVE: Over €200,000 spent on mobile phone bills for Carlow County Council staff since 2016
The number of staff who have work phones ranged from 152 to 163 across the three years
Over €200,000 has been spent on mobile phone bills for Carlow County Council staff since 2016, Carlow Live can exclusively reveal.
Information obtained through a Freedom of Information request revealed that spending on mobile phone bills for 2016 came to €88,965 and €75,350 last year with spending to date in 2018 coming to €42,926.
In total, the number of staff who have Council owned phones (or work phones) for 2016 was 152 but this had gone up to 163 last year while in 2018 the figure stands at 160.
The make and model of the phones for 2016 was Vodafone Smart Ultra 6 and iPhone, in 2017 it was Vodafone Smart Ultra 7, iPhone and Samsung Xcover 3/4 while this year it's Samsung XCover4, Samsung A5, iPhone.
Carlow Live also asked for the expenditure on tablets for Council staff or councillors and a breakdown of how many tablets were purchased and who received one, however this information was not readily available and could not be disaggregated without attracting search and retrieval fees.