Tag Archives: council

CLARE County Council’s debtors’ arrears bill of €19.6 million is adversely affecting its cash flow, a local government auditor has warned. Excluding cities, this is the third-highest amount of money owed to any local authority in the country. The two biggest debtors in 2012 were commercial rates of €9.814m and commercial water of €8.186m. In his latest audit of the council finances, local government auditor, Thomas O’Callaghan has described its collection rate for housing rents and annuities, commercial water, housing loans and commercial rates in 2012 as unsatisfactory. Mr O’Callaghan stated the total amount of money owed under these categories by December 31, 2012 is “having an adverse impact on the council’s cash flow”. The auditor noted the council has made accumulated provisions for bad debts of €12.6m. Describing the outstanding debts owed as “alarming”, Councillor PJ Kelly claimed this was caused by a “systems failure” and a “management deficit”. Stating that a lot of this “legacy debt” had built …

MOTOR tax paid by Clare motorists exceeds the Local Government Fund allocation to the county council by €24.7m, new figures have revealed. Clare motorists have contributed €104.8m in motor taxation and driving licences from 2008 to last September, which compares to a total of about €80.1 million from the Local Government Fund and special water services allocation over the same period. It excludes €4.091m paid by Clare householders under the Household Charge in 2012 and 2013 and €4.3 million this year from the Local Property Tax. In 2008, Clare motorists paid €20.9 million on motor tax and driving licences. While this figure has fallen steadily in recent years it still provided €15.98 million for the national exchequer in 2012 and €12.455 million from January to September 2013. The huge disparity between the two figures have prompted Councillor Christy Curtin to request the Government to substantially increase the Local Government Fund allocation to the council, which has fallen by 40% from …

CLARE County Council is a finalist in the 10th annual Engineers Ireland Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Employer of the Year Awards for 2013-2014. Clare County Council, which has a long and successful record of CPD, has been shortlisted for its achievements in using in-house expertise, local knowledge and innovation to develop the Clare County Flood Forecasting System (CCFFS). The system has proven highly successful and is being replicated by a number of organisations throughout the country. Dublin City Council, Dromone Engineering Limited, global healthcare company Abbott Ireland and PM Group are among other leading organisations shortlisted for the awards. Engineers Ireland director general and chartered engineer, John Power said, “Every year we are hugely impressed by the quality of entries and the organisations’ commitment to CPD. This year is no different. The shortlist reflects companies that have demonstrated how the strategic use of CPD enables tangible business transformation, helping to establish Ireland as a centre of excellence for engineering. “I …

FEARS  have been expressed that the owners of wells and boreholes in Clare will be hit with registration fees under proposed new legislation. Councillor Pat McMahon expressed concern about the implications for hundreds of private wells if, as expected, new legislation is introduced to licence the use of all water from private sources to comply with EU requirements. The Newmarket Councillor has also warned that the new national water agency Irish Water will not show any leniency towards genuine hardship arrears cases in the county. He claimed at a council meeting on Monday that he was informed by a senior council official there would be “no deals” for anyone in arrears, regardless of whether they presented a strong case. The Fianna Fáil Councillor also sought clarification about whether the new legislation will apply to existing and or new wells and boreholes in the county. His concern was shared by Councillor Michael Kelly, who stated that people who had sunk bore holes and wells had already incurred considerable …