High court challenge costs council €70,000

A HIGH court challenge to new casual trading market bylaws for Ennis has cost the local authority €70,000, it has emerged.
The case, which has not yet had a full hearing, is seen as a test of national legislation. At this week’s meeting of Ennis Town Council, town manager Ger Dollard confirmed the cost of the high court action.
He said that the local authority had “no choice” in contesting the case. “We are still awaiting a hearing. This case is a test of national legislation rather than local.
“This is the third local authority that has faced a similar challenge, the national legislation needs to be clarified on how market bylaws sit with historic market rights.”
He was responding to queries from Councillor Brian Meaney in relation to legal costs for the council being greater than originally budgeted.
Councillor Paul O’Shea described the figure of €70,000 as “alarming” and asked if mediation was considered. He also asked if legal funding could be got from the Department of the Environment.
Mr Dollard stated while he could not go into the legal case in detail, he added, “This is a case of legal principles and is not a case for mediation but we would have made certain proposals and if mediation could solve it, we would have done so.”
He said the matter has been brought to the attention of the Department.
At the meeting the annual financial statement for Ennis Town Council for the year ended December 31, 2011 was outlined.
According to Mr Dollard, the accounts are “satisfactory” adding, “Ennis Town Council is solvent, and very solvent.”
2011 resulted in a negative operating result of €151,136 on the Revenue Account, representing the challenging economic environment experienced in 2011. Expenditure on the revenue account amounted to €12,351,333 while income on the account amounted to €5,051,798. In addition, there was income of €7,484,994 in respect of local government fund, pension-related deductions and rates in the year.
The total amount of rate collection was €4,938,841, 57% of the total for collection.
Mr Dollard informed councillors rates are among the council’s biggest source of income and the local authority is “taking a very strong approach” in relation to payment of rates.
“We are willing to work with businesses, we acknowledge the difficulties that are out there but these are debts that have to be paid.
“The rates account for around 50% of the council’s budget.” He outlined that there are several cases for non-payment before the courts.
“We intend to follow up on these as far as possible until we reach a resolution. I am appealing to people who have ­difficulties to talk to the finance department of the council and enter into arrangements on how the debt can be paid.”
Mayor of Ennis Councillor Michael Guilfoyle said, “If the rates are not collected, then the services will suffer.”
Capital debt stood at just over €9m as of December 31, 2011. This capital debt is related to loans that are used to fund various projects. A new loan of €2.25m was drawn down in 2011 for the Inner Relief Road while €1m bridging finance was repaid for Westbourne Housing Development.
Councillor Meaney asked if there are any long-terms plans for a reduction of this debt. Mr Dollard replied that the debt is “not an issue” and that the council is able to service the debt.
Councillor Johnny Flynn stated the accounts highlight the good work of the local authority while Councillor Frankie Neylon suggested that more needs to be done to create revenue.