Counting the costs

Clare’s 32 county councillors pocketed €1m in expenses last year and, according to Mayor of Clare Christy Curtin, even in the current economic climate, it represents “value for money in the context of costs incurred by councillors and functions performed”.

Defending the payment of €949,961.80 in expenses, Mayor Curtin admitted that while the people of Clare would be the ultimate arbitrators, he was satisfied that the allowances paid to councillors was justified in terms of their workload and general availability to the public.
“The bottom line figure seems high and that has to be justified to the public. From my observations and in presiding over the council, I would commend my colleagues for their work rate. They are making a fair effort, are giving a good return and are value for money,” he remarked.
Mayor Curtin pointed out that in this year’s budget, a very pragmatic approach was taken in line with national constraints. This was reflected in a 20% reduction in expenses through deductions in salary, subsistence, travel and representation allowances.
Not unexpectedly, the two top earners were outgoing Mayor of Clare, Tony Mulcahy and the incumbent Christy Curtin.
Shannon councillor Tony Mulcahy, who saw out the final six months of his tenure as mayor at the beginning of the year, pocketed €44,169.10 between his attendance at conferences, salary, allowances and miscellaneous payments. It also included a €544.14 subsistence payment for his attendance at the St Patrick’s Day parade in New York.
Councillor Christy Curtin, who received the chain of office in July, earned €40,701.56 from which he paid nearly €9,500 in PAYE, PRSI and pension levy.
Next on the list of top earners were North Clare Fine Gael councillors Martin Conway and Joe Arkins who both received close on €40,000 in expenses.
Councillor Conway picked up €38,972.74 of which €10,500 was in allowances as chair of the County Development Board and one of the four Strategic Policy Committees while Councillor Joe Arkins claimed €38,660.60 of which €7,500 was for being chair of the County Development Board and a Strategic Policy Committee.
Their party colleague Johnny Flynn has continued to honour his pre-local election commitment not to claim expenses. Consequently, the Ennis East councillor only claimed €16,724 which is a councillor’s basic pay.
Former TD James Breen, who was re-elected to the council in 2009, received €26,905.89 while former councillors who made a return to the council chamber two years ago, Michael Kelly, Michael Begley and Michael Hillery, claimed €32,279.43, €28,043.48 and €27,816.07 respectively.
Details of the councillors’ expenses, claimed last year, were posted on line on Wednesday.
The move by councillors to reveal their expense details online was unanimously approved by the elected representatives last year and allows members of the public to view specific details of all allowances and expenses paid to them.
The thinking behind the move was that such details should be open and transparent rather than only being accessible under the Freedom of Information Act.
The online information also discloses expenses claimed by the council’s executive. The total last year came to €31,521.95 up from €30,621.01 in 2009.
County Manager Tom Coughlan said that in the spirit of co-operation which exists between the council executive and elected members, the management team was happy to publish details of their expenses online.
Mr Coughlan claimed €8,830.51, up by just over €2,000 from the previous year. However, the increase is attributed to the fact that in 2009 he wasn’t county manager for the entire year.
The breakdown of expenses claimed by his directors of services are: David Timlin (€5,020.94), Ger Dollard (€4,856.31), Bernadette Kinsella (€4,553.23), Nora Kaye (€4,503.03) and Noeleen Fitzgerald (€3,757.93).