Daly accuses minister of ‘reneging’ on promises

Mayor of Clare Councillor Pat Daly has accused Environment Minister Phil Hogan of “reneging” on promises made to two local Fine Gael Deputies about recouping the €243,000 withheld from Clare County Council due to poor national collection rates for the controversial Household Charge.
It now seems highly unlikely that the council will receive €243,000, which was part of its initial allocation for the 2012 third quarter, pending a national review of the national return from the Household Charge.
This is despite the fact that Clare had the 13th highest compliance rate, with a return of 73.23% as of December 28, out of 34 local authorities.
According to figures provided by the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), €3,414,477 was collected from the Household Charge in Clare up to December 30 including €118,450 in direct debits and €3,296,027 in non-direct debits.
Councillor Daly recalled Clare Deputies Pat Breen and Joe Carey made a commitment at a special meeting of Clare County Council that the €243,000 that was withheld from the council in the third quarter would be restored if it achieved a compliance rate of over 70% to 75% based on assurances they received from Environment Minister Phil Hogan.
Mayor Daly has questioned whether or not this commitment was even made by Minister Hogan to the two deputies, as the council never got this money back.
The Fianna Fáil councillor expressed disappointment Minister Hogan had “reneged on this commitment” made to the two deputies and claimed the minister should never have made it in the first place if he wasn’t in a position to stand over it.
The Department of Environment declined to comment on Councillor Daly’s comment at the time of going to press.
Deputy Joe Carey told a special meeting of the council last July the local authority wouldn’t have to implement any cuts if the authority increased its collection rate from 62% up to 70% or 75%.
Deputy Pat Breen indicated that the council just has had to get the collection rate above 70% for the reduction in funding to be reversed.
Having received this assurance from Minister Hogan, Deputies Breen and Carey said Minister Hogan was confident that Clare would reach the targets being set for the county.
Speaking to The Clare Champion this week, Deputy Carey pointed out this issue was clarified in a letter to the council from Minister Hogan a few months ago.
Stating that local authorities throughout the country had funding withheld, he pointed out Clare County Council would not suffer any further cuts in its 2012 Local Government Fund allocation, unlike Donegal County Council because its collection rate was only about 55%.
He said this issue was due to be considered as part of a national review at the end of 2012 and pledged to raise this matter with Minister Hogan again once the Dáil resumed.
“The €243,000 which was withheld is less than 2% of Clare County Council’s budget. I understand that Clare County Council has cash reserves built up it can draw on to supplement its budget.
“The Government is moving to a different funding model for local government, which will involve the introduction of a local Property Tax to fund local authorities.
“This will provide a far more sustainable method of providing local government funding in the future,” he said.
Deputy Breen said he understood this issue was clarified a few months ago by Minister Hogan and also promised to discuss it again with the minister once the Dáil re-opened.
Clare County Council stated the final end-of-year figure is expected to be marginally higher than 73.23%.
Unpaid charges and arrears are being transferred to the Revenue Commissioners from July 1, 2013 when they will in effect become part of the local Property Tax.