Galway City Council has denied that the cost of the controversial Eyre Square re-landscaping is running over-budget.
The council was responding yesterday to a claim by a Green Party councillor, Mr Niall O'Brolchain, that the cost of the project appeared to be in danger of "spiralling out of control".
Cllr O'Brolchain, a long-time opponent of the Galway centre project, said that he had watched the bill rise steadily since its inception.
"The first figure I remember hearing in terms of cost was €2.5million. This changed to €4 million, then to €4.5 million and on to €5 million.
"Now in the latest edition of Construction magazine it is claimed that Samuel Kingston Construction Ltd is charged with completing the €6.5 million Eyre Square enhancement scheme," the Green Party councillor said.
"People in Galway are fed up that their square has been out of action for so long, and that it will continue to be out of action until at least October 2005.
"The fact that the costs appear to be spiralling out of control is adding insult to injury."
There was increasingly less tolerance among the public for such projects running late and over-budget, he noted.
However, Galway's acting city manager, Mr Joe O'Neill, said that the contract figure of 6.5 million included the cost of "work other than the enhancement scheme", such as public lighting, drainage and water, as well as the works required under the redevelopment.
Some 4 million of this was being paid for by the EU.
The contract with Samuel Kingston Construction was signed last January before work started, Mr O'Neill said.
"The project is not over budget, and the figure of €6.5 million has been public knowledge since the contract was signed," he said.
