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Political divisions on Household Charge

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MAYOR of Clare, Councillor Pat Daly has upped the ante as the row over the Household Charge collection rate controversy concerning the €243,000 cutback in Clare County Council’s funding rumbles on this week.

In a statement issued to The Clare Champion, Councillor Daly insisted all his council colleagues expected Environment Minister Phil Hogan to return the €243,000 cut in the council’s Local Government Fund allocation for the third quarter following a meeting between the minister and Clare TDs Pat Breen and Joe Carey.

Councillor Daly pointed out Clare already had a high collection rate of over 65% before Minister Hogan announced his intention to cut funding from local authorities in the fourth quarter.

Stating that Clare had one of the highest collection rates for the household charge in the country, Councillor Daly stressed councillors felt the council was entitled to be rewarded as a result.

His comments came after Clare County Councillors voted against a proposal put forward by Fine Gael councillors to request a full refund from the Department of the Environment if Clare reached a 75% compliance rate for the Household Charge.

Despite claims from Fine Gael councillors that their proposal incentivised a higher collection rate, this proposal was defeated by 13 votes to nine thanks to opposition from Fianna Fáil councillors.

A Fianna Fáil proposal to allow the Fine Gael deputies another week to secure a deal with the minister before a decision is made on cuts was passed by 18 votes to two.

There was also unanimous support for a proposal from Councillor Patricia McCarthy and Christy Curtin that the council should present a strong case for the refund of the €243,000.

Deputy Timmy Dooley was the only Clare deputy who attended a specially convened meeting called by the mayor on Monday in relation to Minister Hogan’s decision.

Deputies Pat Breen and Joe Carey had prior engagements, while Deputy Michael McNamara was abroad on Council of Europe business.

Deputy Carey stated he and Deputy Breen had sought a meeting with the mayor and Clare county manager, Tom Coughlan for last Friday. However, he claimed Mr Coughlan declined to meet them, which he described as disappointing.

Deputy Carey explained he had committed to attend a meeting on the amalgamation of three secondary schools in Ennistymon on Monday, which had been made a long time before the council’s request.

Despite the council’s decision to vote against the proposal devised by Clare Fine Gael deputies and councillors, he pledged to put this proposal to the minister over the coming days, which was based on the council achieving a 75% compliance rate.

He requested Clare councillors to encourage Clare people who have not paid the Household Charge to do so.

“There is a direct link between the provision of local services and the level of compliance rates with the Household Charge. County Clare is no different in this respect to every other county in the State. Other councils who have reached a compliance rate below the 65% level will face further reductions in their budget if this figure is not reached by the end of the year,” he said.

A council spokesman explained the county manager couldn’t meet the deputies before the special meeting as it was up to the councillors to decide their next course of action considering the meeting was called by the mayor.

Councillor Johnny Flynn requested a postponement of the special meeting on the basis that it was called without prior contact being made with Deputy Breen who had prior commitments in North Clare and Dublin.

He argued unsuccessfully that this meeting was premature in view of the scheduled meeting between Deputies Breen and Carey and the minister.

Deputy Breen insisted he and Deputy Carey made the pledge about the council receiving all of its allocation if it reached a compliance rate of between 70 and 75% in good faith at a recent council meeting.

Unfortunately, when the Department of the Environment did its calculations in terms of revenue from the household charge, Deputy Breen explained they faced a huge shortfall, which had to be made up.

While Deputy Breen acknowledged it was vital the council retained all of its funding, he pointed out the €243,000 was a relatively small sum in the authority’s overall budget of €110 million and would cover the cost of about one mile of overlay on a regional road.

“The reality is the Department of the Environment can’t return money it doesn’t have. It is facing a major shortfall, which has to be filled.

“What the council decide is one matter and what the Fine Gael deputies decide is another matter. Clare County Council had got one of the smallest cuts in funding because of the high compliance rate in the county when you compared €243,000 to €1 million of cuts in Cork and Donegal County Council.

“We will circulate the outcome of the meeting to the county manager and all the 32 councillors,” he said.

 

Slim prospect for 75% compliance, says county manager

THE prospect of Clare County Council reaching a Household Charge compliance rate of 75% over the coming weeks look slim based on the projections of the county manager, Tom Coughlan.

Fine Gael Deputies Pat Breen and Joe Carey have pledged to ask Environment Minister Phil Hogan to return €243,000, which was cut from Clare County Council’s funding, if the county achieves a 75% compliance rate.

However, Mr Coughlan revealed at a council meeting on Monday collecting every 0.01% was now becoming increasingly difficult as the authority tried to collect the €100 household levy from householders who didn’t want to pay.

Having achieved a collection rate of over 68%, Mr Coughlan admitted it was going to be hard to significantly increase this percentage.

Following a council meeting in July, Mr Coughlan said a decision was taken to continue operating on the basis that the authority would receive the same funding as contained in the Budget.

Even if the council secures a return of the €243,000, he warned it will still be difficult to balance the books this year as a result of the impact of the economic recession.

He said councillors had asked the council to take whatever measures were deemed necessary to improve the collection rate for the Household Charge.

In what appeared to be a reference to the controversy surrounding the council’s decision to request third-level maintenance grant application if their parents had paid the Household Charge, he said some of the council’s measures to increase public awareness about the importance of paying the Household Charge were criticised.

He said the council had considered withholding the payment of the household aid to the elderly but instead decided to ask a question about the payment of the Household Charge in letters concerning grant applications.

Councillor Joe Arkins suggested it would be fairer for the council to use its overdraft facility to carry the €243,000 until 2013 as it would be more prudent to spread this cut over 12 months rather than trying to implement it on particular programmes over the next three months.

However, Mr Coughlan expressed his grave reluctance to “spend money the council didn’t have” and to operate outside the budget if a decision is made not to refund the €243,000.

He warned any decision to operate outside of the council’s budget would store up this problem for another day, which wouldn’t be desirable.

If the council waited another two weeks before a decision is taken, he pointed out this would make it even more difficult to make a decision on possible savings or cuts.

Councillor Arkins asked head of Finance, Niall Barrett what the €243,000 represented in terms of the council’s outstanding debts and other sources of revenue.

Mr Barrett replied the council didn’t have huge room for manoeuvre because its discretionary expenditure was limited and it also had to comply with the terms of the Croke Park agreement on pay and conditions.

Mr Coughlan declined to go into details about what the impact of the cuts might be as he didn’t want to be alarmist.

However, he did concede time is running out for the council if cuts have to be made.

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