Instead of City Hall spending €150,000 “to buy three new chairs” for the extra councillors elected in May, that money would be better spent addressing the needs of local communities.

This is the view of Fine Gael Galway City East candidate John Walsh who is calling on the Galway City Council to scrap plans for a €150,000 refurbishment of the council chamber to accommodate an additional three members.

“The whole purpose of the Government’s plans for local government reform was to save taxpayers’ money, not to needlessly spend more,” he said. “There is no need to spend this money and, at a time when so many families are struggling to make ends meet, it smacks of the kind of wasteful spending that we had hoped had been consigned to the past.”

He said elected councillors should be willing to make do with “the ample accommodation” available to them rather than spend €150,000 of their constituents’ taxes “on what is basically three new chairs”.

Mr Walsh said the Galway City Council should set an example to other local authorities which are set to spend “millions of euro on lavish refurbishments and expansions”.

“ Galway can set an example in this respect and ensure the limited funding we have is invested in those who need it most,” he said. “The council should give real consideration to the worthy causes in our communities.”