Ballymun company asked to cut costs by 40%

ALMOST A quarter of the funding provided by the Government to Ballymun Regeneration Ltd (BRL) is spent on administration, the Department of the Environment has said. The department has asked the Dublin City Council-owned company to cut its costs by 40 per cent this year.

BRL is seeking an additional €20 million from the Government to complete the regeneration of the troubled 1960s high-rise suburb in north Dublin.

The department has said it cannot provide extra money above the €25 million it has allocated for this year and to do so would hit funding for other regeneration projects in Dublin and nationally.

However the department said BRL would have more money to spend on the redevelopment of Ballymun if it reduced its overheads.

BRL got €27.35 million from the department in 2011. Of this €16.75 million was spent on the regeneration scheme, including the costs of construction, demolition, the development of parks, sport social and cultural facilities.

The purchase of houses to deal with the relocation of tenants whose blocks were being demolished but whose new homes were not yet ready cost €4.45 million.

The remaining €6.15 million went on the administration of the regeneration company, the largest part of this budget going on staff payroll costs.

The department said it has asked BRL to reduce this cost by 40 per cent in 2012, but has yet to receive a response from the firm.

The department was not seeking to recoup any reductions in administration costs from the company but would allow it to use the funds for the regeneration project. A spokeswoman for BRL said it had already cut staff costs significantly this year.

“As the regeneration is now starting to come to an end, BRL has already reduced staff numbers by 20 in the first six months of 2012 and it is anticipated another 20 will be reassigned back to Dublin City Council or will be made redundant in the second half of the year. BRL will have a staff of about 40 compared with 80 in 2010.”

There were also additional administration costs in 2011 associated with remediation works to buildings which had been damaged by pyrite, she said.