A LIMERICK City and County Council-owned property development company, tasked with delivering much-needed housing throughout Limerick, has been commissioned to assist in the delivery of modular housing for international protection (IP) applicants on a nationwide scale, the Limerick Post has learned.
Limerick Twenty Thirty, a company owned by Limerick City and County Council, has been commissioned by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) to aid in the project management of the delivery of modular housing units on sites owned by the State designated for IP applicants across Ireland.
The company’s original remit is to plan and develop key strategic sites in Limerick City and County that will encourage development and enterprise in the area.
Limerick Twenty Thirty (LTT) is currently involved in the ongoing Opera Square project, as well as the planned redevelopment of the former Cleeves site, transforming it into the Cleeves Riverside Quarter.
A spokesman from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth confirmed to the Limerick Post that LTT has been commissioned by the Department to assist in the project management of delivering modular accommodation.
“Limerick Twenty Thirty, as an agent of the State owned by Limerick City and County Council, has been commissioned to support in the project management services in the delivery of the modular solutions,” the spokesman said.
However, LTT is not, the spokesman clarified, involved in the sourcing of lands or sites to be designated for IP accommodation.
A document on the government’s eTenders website shows that LTT was tasked with tendering for a project to deliver modular accommodation units for the Columb Barracks site in Mullingar, County Westmeath, earlier this year.
The project involved “the design, supply, and build of prefabricated modular units to replace and in lieu of eight person tented accommodation including all associated sanitary facilities, site preparation and civil and electrical works at Columb Barracks, Mullingar, County Westmeath,” the online notice states.
The tender document lists LTT as the buyer, with companies invited to submit tenders to complete the works, which were valued at approximately €5.5million and would take five months to complete.
A contract was awarded to a contractor by Limerick Twenty Thirty on May 31 this year, with the contract being officially accepted by the company on June 16.
Administrative role only
It is not known who the contract was awarded to for the undertaking of the works on the Columb Barracks site.
In a joint statement, Limerick Twenty Thirty and Limerick City and County Council said that the company’s role is an administrative only one.
“Limerick Twenty Thirty, which is a Limerick City and County Council designated activity company, has a service level agreement with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth to assist in the delivery of modular accommodation solutions on state owned sites for International Protection applicants,” the statement read.
“The service is an administrative role only in that it involves managing project management services, as distinct from delivery of infrastructure or operations.”
The spokesman for both Limerick Twenty Thirty and LCCC continued, saying that “this administrative service will, nonetheless, enhance understanding in Limerick of modular housing, which may assist and be part of the wider housing solution going forward”.
