Dublin City Council is spending €200,000 on repairing a block of flats in Ballymun even though they are going to be demolished just months after the work is completed.

Residents of the flats have described the costly refurbishment of two lifts as a "complete waste of money".

The improvement works on the lifts in the block on Sillogue Road is scheduled to take place over the next three months with the residents due to be relocated to other accommodation soon afterwards.

Resident Gerry Kinsella told the Sunday Tribune: "I just don't see why Dublin City Council is wasting its money on such extensive improvements considering we are all due to be relocated in the coming months. The lifts are working fine in general. They only need to be maintained not completely refurbished."

The lifts will not be operational for the three months that the repair works are set to take which means that elderly people and parents with young children in buggies will be greatly inconvenienced.

Fiona Redmond lives on the fifth floor of the Ballymun block. She's on crutches and isn't looking forward to weeks of clambering up the stairs when the lifts are shut down.

"I recently broke a bone in my foot so I could be in a cast for up to 10 more weeks," she explained.

"I just can't go up and down those stairs so will I be trapped in my home for three months until the lifts are back working again?"

The Redmond household will feel an added strain as Fiona's daughter is due to give birth in the coming days.

Dublin City Council offered residents alternative accommodation while the works are carried out. All the residents should have been relocated by now but the scheme has been delayed. The landmark flat blocks are being leveled as part of a regeneration programme in the area which will see 5,000 new homes built in their place.

Many residents have decided not to chose the temporary relocation option, including Kinsella.

"It's ridiculous for the council to expect people to pack up their homes and move to a flat on another level for three months," he said.

"Sure we would have to do the same thing all over again a few months further down the line when we are relocated to our new homes."

A spokeswoman for Dublin City Council confirmed that the works will cost in the region of €200,000.

"Residents were given a contact name to contact should they feel they had any mobility issues or issues that would require assistance. One resident had requested a move to an alternative flat while works are being carried out and this resident has been facilitated."

She added: "The refurbishment is being carried out on Health and Safety grounds as the lifts concerned have reached the end of their life cycle. It had been expected that these blocks would have been fully vacated at this stage but we are aware now that this is not the situation and the council will not compromise on safety."