Clare County Council is spending €3,000 a week on security costs for a Traveller accommodation site that is only partially occupied.
The local authority said it had spent more than €150,000 in the past year on round-the-clock security at the Beechpark site on the outskirts of Ennis. The council confirmed yesterday that, since April 2010, no family had lived in the three homes at the site, while two halting bays were occupied.
A council spokeswoman said 24-hour security would be withdrawn when CCTV was installed next month.