Sinn Féin TD for Wicklow and Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, John Brady, has condemned the €400,000 spent on the failed emergency international protection accommodation at River Lodge in Newtownmountkennedy, calling it a shocking waste of public money.

He said the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth pressed ahead "haphazard from the outset", despite the Department, Minister and government being repeatedly told the site was wholly unsuitable. Brady said information supplied to the Public Accounts Committee—following questions he submitted when the Department of Justice appeared before it—was "summarising failures at every level", and he urged the government to halt any further spending and hand the site over for community use.

Teachta Brady said: "Despite repeated warnings and despite strong concerns from the local community in Newtownmountkennedy, the Department pushed ahead over the heads of local representatives and residents.

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"The decision to proceed with tented accommodation at an unsuitable site was reckless, wasteful and entirely avoidable.

"River Lodge ultimately ceased being used as emergency accommodation in December 2024 after adverse weather conditions made the tented structures unviable, and all residents were relocated. A subsequent process to examine alternative development options – including repurposing the site for other forms of accommodation – was carried out.

"The Department carried out technical and financial assessments, particularly relating to wastewater treatment infrastructure, and found that it was not possible to progress any proposed redevelopment at River Lodge.

"The information provided to the Public Accounts Committee summarises failures at every level. It exposes the lack of planning, the waste of taxpayers’ money, the haphazard approach taken by government, and the complete failure to engage with local public representatives or the wider community.

"What has happened in Newtown is a sorry saga of mismanagement, and it now needs to be brought to an end.

"The Department continues to maintain security on the site, despite there being no plans to accommodate international protection applicants there.

"The ongoing cost of providing security for an empty, unused site is yet another unnecessary burden on the taxpayer. This waste has gone on long enough.

"There are real and pressing community needs in Newtownmountkennedy. River Lodge must be returned to the community, and the continuous waste of taxpayers’ money must stop."