It’s emerged that Clare County Council spent over €51,000 revamping a meeting room at its Ennis buildings.
Figures released by the local authority in response to a Freedom for Information request show that this included €30,000 on a bespoke table and chairs.
The records show that Clare County Council spent over €13,000 on a seven metre bespoke table emblazoned with the Council’s coat of arms, along with just shy of €18,000 on 22 chairs.
Each chair cost €817.95, while an accompanying wall unit cost €3,431.
A statement for the Council pointed out that the upgraded meeting room hosts VIPs visiting the Council HQ as well as the Corporate Policy Group made up of Councillors and the council executive.
There were more than 60 scheduled meetings held in this room during the three month period from January 2018 to March 2018.
The statement went on to say that the revamp of the main meeting room arose from a request from management to ascertain whether the allocation of meeting rooms could be optimised in order to more directly accommodate the functional needs of the entire staff complement.
An internal report released through the FOI Act shows that the estimate on the final bill for the room revamp would be between €40,000 and €50,000.
STATEMENT FROM CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL:
Further to its completion, Áras Contae an Chláir was occupied by the staff of Clare County Council on 8 January 2008. Over the years as the staff familiarised themselves with the functionality of the building, it became apparent that there was a requirement for additional meeting rooms in the entire building. Among the issues identified was that the Conference Room (Room 316), as the largest room in the building, was the only meeting room that could receive a large number of people. However, this room was considered unable to accommodate more than 15 people. At the request of Management, a study was undertaken in April 2017 to ascertain whether the allocation of meeting rooms could be optimised in order to more directly accommodate the functional needs of the entire staff complement. The Study recommended that as the Conference Room was not designed to accommodate more than 15 people in a formal meeting setting, the best option would be to make the room larger by breaking into the adjoining small meeting room.
The upgraded meeting room hosts VIP’s visiting Áras Contae an Chláir as well as the Corporate Policy Group (CPG). The room also is used for management meetings, staff meetings, meetings with Elected Members, and meetings with outside bodies and agencies. There were more than 60 scheduled meetings held in this room during the three month period from January 2018 to March 2018.
