There were heated moments at City Hall last night - when a legal saga with a parking machine contractor was discussed.
It follows proceedings taken against Galway City Council by UTS Technologies, with the case settled on the steps of the High Court in recent weeks.
There was outrage from councillors last night, most notably from Fine Gael Councillor Frank Fahy, who called the settlement a ‘scam’, drawing backlash from many Councillors.
The Galway City Center councillor said it’s ‘imperative’ to know how the councils money is being spent, while Labour Cllr Niall McNelis wanted answers on what ‘can and can’t be’ discussed in relation to the case.
In response, CEO Leonard Cleary advised he can’t discuss details of the case and settlement due to ‘legal advice’ from the council’s solicitors.
The legal battle has been running for over a year and is understood to have ended on the week of the 20th of October, when it was listed for a hearing that was expected to last two or three days.
Following the settlement, a report confirmed that 90% of machines are still out of order in the city due to running on outdated 3g technology, which is no longer supported in Galway.
The report, delivered by Patrick Greene, Director of Services at Galway City Council also found that Revenue from parking meters is down €301k from last year, with outages caused by storm Eowyn cited as a key contributor to these losses.
