This article is from page 31 of the 2011-12-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 31 JPG
COUNCILLORS at last Thursday’s budget meeting of Kilrush Town Council have described the nine per cent cut in central government funding to council as an attempt to “squeeze the life” out of local government.
The cut, which was announced in September, amounts to a € 40,000 reduction in the budget for Kilrush Town Council – or the equivalent of a seven per cent rates increase.
According to local council and former Mayor of Clare, Tom Prenderville (FF), the cuts are mak- ing local authorities more and more irrelevant.
“Local government was always on a life support scheme but I think, at this stage, the life has been squeezed out of it. The money has been pillaged from this council,” he said.
“When you look at a reduction of nine per cent in the funding that we are receiving, that amount to more than € 40,000 which would allow us to reduce the amount that we have to collect in rates by more than seven per cent. I wonder are we in this council becoming irrelevant? Are we just going to be a rubber-stamp for the decision made by central government.”
Cllr Prenderville made the comment as part of a debate about the 2012 council budget. The draft budget accounted for large reductions in both the Community, Sports and Recreations and the Entertainment and Arts budgets.
The budget calls for a reduction from € 20,000 to € 8,186 in the Community, Sports and Recreations Budget and a reduction from € 8,026 to € 4,143 in the Entertainment and Arts budget.
The councillors asked for between € 5, 000 and € 6, 000 to be reduced from these cuts in order to provide for a number of schemes in 2012.
“The community grants have such an impact on our community at as a whole and we should do everything we can to help them. The arts bodies have also been hit and people are not buying art anymore,” said Mayor of Kilrush, Ian Lynch (FG).
“We need to look at where we can find some money to help these people.”
A number of calls were also made to retain the budget for the annual community awards.
“The awards were well received by everyone who was there and the publicity that we received in the newspapers last week, money could not buy. We are talking about fantastic voluntary organisation, there is no profits being made by these guys,” said Cllr Paul Moroney (Ind).
“We want to take from the most vulnerable in society -the elderly and the young – it won’t happen while I am at this table. We need to find this money from somewhere else.”
Funding for these projects will be decided at the January 3 meeting of Kilrush Town Council as no decision could be reached at last week meeting.