Cork City Council spent over €23,000 last year on 'robotrees' before their removal

Irish Examiner

2 days ago

Cork City Council spent more than €23,000 maintaining its controversial 'robotrees' despite a report on their impact on air quality proving inconclusive.
Two payments for 'annual maintenance' were made to Green City Solutions of €14,497 on July 19 and €8,940 on July 24 last year.
The payments are higher than previous years, when annual maintenance costs were €16,778 in 2020, €17,755 in 2021 - when there were also repairs costing €2,396 - and €17,880 in 2022.
There are no records provided for maintenance costs for 2023 for the German-made 'trees', which were designed to filter air via so-called moss filters, absorb toxic pollutants and collate air quality data for analysis.
In November 2023, the Irish Examiner reported that a 190-page evaluation report of the devices concluded they provided 'no consistent evidence for improved air quality' either on the CityTree benches or 'in the immediate environs' of the machines.
The council commissioned UCC in June 2022 to undertake the performance study on the machines, at a cost of €2,500, and conducted on eight different rain-free days during June and July 2022.
A source of constant criticism since they were installed in 2020, UCC's Centre for Research into Atmospheric Chemistry researcher Dean Venables labelled them 'a costly and ineffectual gimmick'.
In September 2023, UCC emeritus professor of chemistry, John Sodeau, said the "trees" - which were removed from their wooden bases last month and placed in storage - were a waste of money.
At the time they were removed, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said of the initiative: 'People try things out, some work out, some don't work out'.
Just 'stumps' remain of the robot trees which have been removed from Cork City. Picture: Larry Cummins
The most recent annual maintenance payments were revealed to Cork North Central Sinn Féin Thomas Gould as a result of a Freedom of Information request.
He said: 'In a city that lacks benches, that has broken footpaths and too few real trees, it is insulting that this money was spent over a four-year period on a failed science experiment.
'When the studies in November 2023 failed to prove the effectiveness of the trees, we were told there would be extensive scientific study on them. How much has this cost? What did this report find?"
He said there "should be no more gimmicks in Cork City". "We need safe footpaths, accessible benches and sufficient rubbish bins to prevent dog fouling," Mr Gould said.
'These may not be glamorous initiatives but they will make a huge real difference in the lives of ordinary people in our city.' Cork City Council was asked for a comment.