Dundalk Town Council inquiry into pensioner’s arrears letter

A pensioner who got a letter saying she was €2,300 in rent arrears with her local council has prompted an internal investigation by the council who have also contacted gardaí.

The woman, who does not want to speak publicly, contacted her local radio station when she got the letter last month.

It is believed the woman lives close to Dundalk town centre and that she may not be the only tenant in a council-owned house in the area. She was paying €27 a week for the house.

LMFM contacted Dundalk Town Council with inquiries about the payments.

Late on Wednesday night the council issued a statement saying: “The council has uncovered irregularities in relation to rent collection in the period 2009-2012 in a specific location in Dundalk. As a result of this, a member of staff has been suspended, an internal investigation is under way and the gardaí have been notified. The council is assuring the relevant tenants they will not be adversely affected.”

'Alleged irregularity'
A Garda spokesman said: "Gardaí are aware of an alleged irregularity. We were made aware of it by the local authority."

The chairman of Dundalk town council Eamonn O’Boyle said: “There are a lot of unanswered questions. This woman was said to be in arrears from February 2009, but yet she only got a letter recently. Why was this not picked up by the system?

“We felt we had a robust system of checks and balances to ensure something like this could not happen.”

Sinn Féin councillors in Dundalk yesterday advised council tenants to check their rent statements to make sure payments had been properly accounted.

“As a team of councillors, we are going through our records of representations and will contact constituents who came to us with concerns about rent payments and balances,” a spokesperson said.

Separately, last October two staff with Louth County Council were suspended as part of an ongoing inquiry into an alleged possible conflict of interest. It is understood the suspensions will continue until the completion of an investigation into the purchase of two houses by the council in 2010.