Sinn Féin TD for Wicklow and Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, John Brady, has described the €1.3 million spent on security in 2025 at the vacant international protection accommodation at River Lodge in Newtownmountkennedy as an extraordinary waste of public money.
Brady also stated that this new information on the costs relating to the site, provided to PAC following questions he submitted, was a “kick in the teeth” to the local community in Newtownmountkennedy and called on Government to immediately end expenditure at the site and hand it over for community use.
Teachta Brady said:
“This is yet another extraordinary example of public money wasted by this Government.
“The newly released figures show a staggering level of spending on the site in both 2024 and 2025.
“In 2024, over €2.8 million was spent across a range of areas, including site establishment and maintenance, accommodation and services, security and fuel.
“River Lodge ultimately ceased being used as emergency accommodation in December 2024 after adverse weather conditions made the tented structures unviable, and all residents were relocated.
“Incredibly, spending has continued apace at the vacant site, with figures showing a spend of over €1.4 million in 2025.
“€1.3 million of this was spent on security for a completely empty site.
“A site that the Department has said is unsuitable for accommodation purposes and that have absolutely no plan for moving forward, all the while, money goes down the drain every single day on security and other costs.
“This level of waste is a kick in the teeth to the local community in Newtownmountkennedy and ordinary citizens who are at breaking point because of the government’s failure to tackle the cost of living crisis. Newtown is a town that is crying out for investment and improved community facilities, so to see money being wasted in such a manner is totally unacceptable.
“The Minister must now commit to ending all expenditure on this site immediately and handing it over for community use.
“This project has been a sorry saga of mismanagement from the outset, despite repeated warnings about the unsuitability of the site and despite strong concerns from the local community, the Department pushed ahead over the heads of local representatives and residents, with a plan that was never going to work.
“This waste has gone on long enough and it now needs to be brought to an end. I have set up a petition calling on the government to hand the site over to the community so it can be used for community purposes.
“There are real and pressing community needs in Newtownmountkennedy. River Lodge at Trudder, must be returned to the community, and the continuous waste of taxpayers’ money must stop.”