Kerry County Council spent over €4 million on plant hire and haulage services during 2020.
Following a request by Cllr Brendan Cronin, the council provided a full list of the payments it made to companies for plant hire and haulage contractors last year.
The plant hire company owned by Kerry TD Danny Healy-Rae, and a car and van rental company from Kildare, were among the top recipients.
The total amount paid out by the council for plant hire and haulage services last year was over €4.6 million (€4,682,994.33), including VAT, which was spread across 81 companies.
Kerry County Council paid just under a quarter of this amount, which is still over €1 million (€1,116,781) to 22 companies based outside of Kerry last year.
Clancy Plant Hire Ltd from Moyvane received the largest sum, which was €465,000 (€465,321.80), while the next highest was Mike Cronin & Sons Ltd from Farranfore with €362,000 (€362,973).
Healy-Rae Plant Hire Ltd from Kilgarvan, part-owned by Kerry TD Danny Healy-Rae, was the third highest recipient with €341,000 (€341,347.37).
The response to Cllr Cronin's motion included an explanation of how the hiring of plant and machinery is procured by the council, through the Dynamic Purchasing System for Local Authorities.
The council states this is an open market procurement mechanism, and is an essentially entirely electronic process.
At the recent council meeting, Cllr Brendan Cronin asked why €279,000 (€279,021.98) was paid to Newbridge Car & Van Rental Ltd., trading as Go Rentals, from Naas in Kildare.
Cllr Cronin asked what the council rented off this company, as there is no fleet of Mercedes cars lying around.
The independent councillor has told Radio Kerry he is seeking further detailed clarification on this as he is not happy with the response he received.
