EXCLUSIVE: Council spends €66,000 each year on hiring street sweepers for one Carlow area
Part One of a Carlow Live report on street sweeper expenditure
The local authority spends over €66,000 per annum on hiring and maintaining three mechanical street sweepers for the Carlow Municipal District, Carlow Live can exclusively reveal.
In response to a Freedom of Information request by this website, the local authority provided details of three hired mechanical sweepers operating in the Carlow MD that cost €10,000 in maintenance and approximately €50,000 to hire.
The sweepers operate seven days a week in Carlow Town and two afternoons a week in Tullow.
The request asked about how man mechanical sweepers operate across the county; a breakdown of where they operate and how frequently; a breakdown of how much the Council spent in purchasing the mechanical sweepers and when each one was bought and finally, a breakdown of the operational and maintenance costs of each of the mechanical sweepers and the area/areas they operate in.
In response, the Council said: "Sweepers are hired not purchased. The large sweeper is €32,000 p.a. to hire and maintenance is €5,200.
"The small sweeper is €12,250 p.a. to hire and maintenance is €2,300 and €2,550."
Based on the figures provided, the total expenditure on the mechnical street sweepers for the Carlow MD is €66,550.
Carlow Live will reveal the mechanical street sweeper expenditure for the Bagenalstown Municipal Distict in the coming days.