Watch: Lord Mayor of Cork challenged by rough sleeper over €350,000 'robot trees'

“Homeless people on the streets, sleeping. You don’t care about them at all.

“And we sleeping on the streets but you putting something like that? That is ridiculous.

“I see how much these cost today in newspapers and this is crazy and we sleeping on the streets and you don’t care about us at all.” 

Mr Kelleher said Cork has a low rate of homelessness and he recently launched a new Peter McVerry Trust complex with five single-bed apartments. He said the council is committed to working with the trust and other approved housing bodies to deliver more housing solutions.

He also defended the allocation of central government funding to buy five of the robot trees - which use moss cultures to filter harmful pollutants out of the air - despite being described by leading atmospheric scientists as expensive gimmicks which will do little to improve the city’s air quality.

Mr Kelleher said the devices will be trialed for 12 months and if deemed successful, more could be deployed.

But the driving force behind Cork Penny Dinners, Caitriona Twomey, says the money spent on the devices could lift 10 people out of homelessness.

“I am actually hurt by this decision to spend taxpayers money on these devices,” Ms Twomey said.

“Who will they affect? Who will they help in the long term?

“I mean, we’re all conscious about climate change and what needs to be done but from what I understand, these devices only clean the air in the immediate area.

“Are we all going to have to congregate around them to get any benefit?” 

The council said the four-metre tall units, three on St Patrick’s Street near French Church Street and two on the Grand Parade near the city library, are part of a suite of actions it’s taking to tackle air pollution and support public health across the city.

The council also stressed that the devices will act as a complement to real trees and are not a replacement for them, with plans to plant 1,200 trees this year and 1,500 trees next year.

In a statement this morning, it said each device can filter the air usage equivalent of up to 7,000 people per hour.

The council’s director of operations, David Joyce, said they are a site-specific solution to the challenge of air pollution and are just one of a wide-ranging suite of actions. 

The council secured the money for the CityTrees following a successful application to a €52m funding package which was made available in the July 2020 Jobs Stimulus Plan through the National Transport Authority to support pedestrian and cyclist movement and enhance accessibility.

The council secured €4m for 26 projects, including money for new footpath construction and improvement works to road surfaces and existing footpaths. New parklets, cycling infrastructure and other public realm upgrades are also covered by the funding.