‘We have to deal with the situation’ – Coughlan

HUGE cutbacks have already been made at Clare County Council over the last few years, county manager Tom Coughlan told last Friday’s special meeting of members of the local authority, organised to discuss a cut in funding for the third quarter of the year.

 

Mr Coughlan told the meeting that the council had received its third quarter allocation, which was €243,000 below what had been expected.

“We have to deal with the situation that we’re in and we expected to get a quarter of a million more in the last week, so obviously there is an issue in relation to that,” he commented.

The county manager said when a balanced budget for 2012 was prepared, provision wasn’t made for a reduction of €243,000 for the third quarter, with a possible further reduction in the fourth quarter.
With regard to what he called “reforecasting of expenditure” he said payroll is one of the main areas of spending and that it has been cut by €6.8 million in the 2009-2011 period. Mr Coughlan said existing plans for savings in 2012 will be difficult to achieve, without looking to go back and get even more.

With regard to non-payroll spending, he said the council needs to ensure its workers are “engaged in productive activity and in order to do that we need the resources and materials that are necessary”.
He said the council has non-discretionary expenditure, relating to things like loan repayments, contractual obligations and legal matters.

Mr Coughlan said every item of discretionary expenditure had been put under the microscope but he also said “there isn’t anywhere else to go really, other than discretionary expenditure”.

He outlined how the county council had delegated responsibility for the collection of the household charge to the Local Government Management Agency. Mr Coughlan also said that Clare is “in the top five or six” counties for compliance with the charge, while he said the county council don’t have a record of who hasn’t paid it.

Mr Coughlan said identifying further savings now would be very hard. “We have shaken the tree as much as we can shake it so it’s very difficult to identify further savings.”

Councillor Michael Begley said Minister Hogan “was like a parent telling a child they will have to cut back on their pocket money”.

His behaviour was out of order, Councillor Begley added. “I’m not aware of any time any minister has asked that a document proposed, adopted and accepted be reneged on.”

He said looking for cuts in the 2013 Budget would be “fair enough” but in this case, the minister was looking for them to be made in a period of just a few months.

Councillor Joe Arkins made a proposal that all members of the council be compliant with the household charge before any expenses or payments are made to members.

He said he felt the council hadn’t been “overly helpful” in helping the LGMA. “We were behaving, for want of a better word, like an organisation that had been scorned,” he commented.

The Ruan man suggested that the council should be in touch with the LGMA “to get the information that you require or feel you require”.

He said 62% of people had paid originally and after letters had been sent out subsequently, the number had risen further. He said it was unfair to the approximately 70% who paid that another 30% would “live off their backs”.

“People who pay the charge are entitled to a service and their neighbours should pay as well,” he concluded.

Mr Coughlan rebutted much of what Councillor Arkins said. He claimed all local authorities had made facilities available for payments to be made and Clare County Council had been among the best performers in this regard.

He also said that if it was a case that Clare County Council hadn’t been helpful, it was funny that the county had recorded one of the highest levels of compliance. “In terms of putting our shoulder to the wheel, we made every effort we can,” he added.

The county manager said that he is in constant contact with the LGMA and strongly denied that he isn’t doing everything possible. “If you want to shoot the messenger, that’s fine councillor but I don’t think its fair.”

Councillor Arkins clarified that he hadn’t wished to criticise the behaviour of the council’s executive.
Ennis-based Councillor Tommy Brennan said it was “sickening to sit down and listen to what’s going on”. He said the current strategy is “playing into the hands” of those who opposed the charge and he proposed “that we go ahead and spend the money in the budget and forget about it”.

Ultimately, after hearing assurances from TDs Joe Carey and Pat Breen that the money would be received if the level of compliance increased to an acceptable level, the members backed his motion not to adjust the budget.

Councillor Patricia McCarthy said the collection system had been shown to be “deficient, faulty and not fit for purpose”. Fianna Fáíl Councillor Pat Hayes said responsibility for collection should have been left with local authorities from the start. “The reality is that if the collection agency was the local authority in the first place, there might have been an incentive.”

Independent Councillor Gerry Flynn, who has not paid the charge, launched a broadside against Minister Hogan.

“The bully boy tactics of Big Phil have to stop and I hope that Enda sees the light and removes him from the role because he is one of the worst ministers for local government I’ve seen.”

However, Councillor Brian Meaney criticised Councillor Flynn and Councillor James Breen for publicly stating they wouldn’t pay, saying it helped contribute to a dynamic that had led to widespread non-compliance.

With regard to the prospect of increasing the council’s accumulated deficit, Mr Coughlan said it wasn’t exactly a long-term solution. “If we do increase the accumulated deficit, someone will have to deal with it at some point in time.”

After hearing from Deputies Breen and Carey, the councillors opted not to adjust the existing budget in line with Councillor Brennan’s proposal.

When the time came to consider Councillor Arkins’ motion that all members be compliant with the charge before any expenses or salaries be paid, Councillor James Breen objected on the grounds that both Councillor Arkins and the seconder were absent from the chamber and it did not go through.
Another motion asking that the Oireachtas members put down a private members’ motion asking that the letter to the county council be withdrawn was passed.