The Government has serious questions to answer over the final purchase cost of Aerfort Chonamara, an airport located in Indreabhán, Connemara, according to Sinn Féin’s Mairéad Farrell. The state paid €2.75 million for the airport late last year.
This week Ms Farrell said that initially when she heard the news last November that the state had purchased Aerfort Chonamara in Indreabhán it seemed like a very positive development and one that would help to ensure its continued use for regular Aer Árann flights to and from the islands.
“It has emerged in recent days, however, that an initial valuation carried out by Bannon Commercial Property Consultants put the airport at €600,000 - €2.15 million less than the eventual sale price.
“The Department now say that the €600,000 valuation by Bannon had not given ‘consideration to the construction costs of a new facility similar to the existing asset’.
“That the final cost of the airport was more than four times the original valuation seems bizarre to me and brings in to question the whole valuation process,” she said.
Ms Farrell said that it is worrying that this information was not released to the public until the Department was obliged to do so under a Freedom of Information request, publishing it simultaneously on their website.
“At a very minimum, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht should be called on to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC ) in order to better explain the process around this purchase and address some concerns in relation to the spike in its valuation.
“I hope that both Government and opposition TDs in Galway West will support my call for a full and comprehensive analysis of the AerfortChonamara purchase at PAC in the interests of transparency and accountability. In cases like this where millions of euro in public funds are being forked out, it is crucial that there is no ambiguity as to the process,” she concluded.
