A local councillor has shared his "outrage" over new civic headquarters which are planned for Monaghan County Council. The local authority lodged plans for the new civic headquarters at Rooskey back in 2023. Speaking at this week's Monaghan County Council meeting, Cllr PJ O'Hanlon was very strong in his opposition to the new civic buildings. He believes the new offices which will cost €70 or €80 million is a "waste of money" especially when council staff work two days a week from home. Plans for the new offices were passed in a previous budget which Cllr O Hanlon was part of, however he defended the part he played stating "I did pass the budget because there was lots of positives in it." Despite this, Cllr O'Hanlon said he does not agree with the new civic buildings due to the financial pressures that it will put on the shoulders of rate payers and small businesses who are already struggling.
He told Northern Sound; "Approximately two months ago we passed the €94 million budget and I passed that budget along with all other councillors unanimously. I also voiced at that meeting that due to the positives that was included in that budget, there was no way I couldn't support it. However, I don't agree with borrowing of €37 million and probably re-paying 60 million over the next 30 years for new civic offices on the back of rate payers. In the current economic climate I don't believe that's right and in relation to the way businesses has evolved over the years with remote working, we're all aware that public servants can now operate working remotely two days a week and that's the way it will be going forward, yet we're improving facilities at a cost of €60 million and the people paying for that is the small retailers and I fundamentally disagree with that."
