Kerry County Council spent over €6.6 million on plant hire, haulage services and transport providers last year.
The council provided a full list of payments it made to companies for such services last year, following a request from councillor Brendan Cronin.
Independent councillor Brendan Cronin asked the council to provide a full list of the payments it made to companies for plant hire and haulage contractors last year.
He told the meeting this was an annual motion he submitted and said as the public are paying and footing the bills, he felt it was important they know where their money was spent and that they were getting value for money.
The total amount paid out by the council for plant hire, haulage services and transport providers last year was over €6.6 million (€6,687,483), including VAT, which was spread across over 40 companies; 78% of the total payments made in 2025 were to Kerry contractors.
The highest amount last year was paid to Mike Cronin & Sons Ltd Currow at €785,000 (€785,921), and the second highest was to Nicholas Browne and Son Ltd Ballinskelligs at over €582,000 (€582,953).
Cllr Cronin queried why over €447,000 was paid to Newbridge Car & Van Rental Ltd, trading as Go Rentals, from Naas in Kildare.
The council stated it hired a number of vehicles throughout its work programme, and stated it is constantly looking at where purchasing a vehicle might be more viable and it’s something staff keep a close eye on.
The council also stated there are good reasons for hiring vehicles as sometimes it may just need a vehicle for a short period of time and it is more cost effective to hire it.
The council uses the Dynamic Purchasing System for Local Authorities to procure plant hire and machinery.
The full list of payments made to contractors can be found below.
