This article is from page 4 of the 2012-10-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
A DEMAND for Clare’s top civil servants to take paycuts has been sounded out this week by a Shannonbased businessman who is one of the leading figures behind a new countywide campaign that is demanding Clare County Council to cut rates and water charges for 2013.
Darragh O’Connor, the proprietor of the Texaco Service Station in Shannon Town Centre, has warned that hundreds of Clare businesses are now teetering on the brink of going under, because of Clare County Council’s refusal to budge on the issue of service charges.
“Businesses are closing down everywhere and the county council seem happy to let that happen,” blasted Mr O’Connor in a statement to The Clare People this week, ahead of a public meeting for ratepayers throughout the county that’s being organised in Shannon next Monday night.
“We are now in a situation where businesses are closing down every day, something that’s not acceptable if the county hopes to get back on its feet. The only thing that the county council has said is that rates won’t go up, but that’s not enough.
“There has to be some give. Look at the top salaries in Clare County Council – the top 10 officials are earning € 1.2 million between them,” Mr O’Connor claimed, “yet for people who are struggling with rates and water charges, they are living with the fact that their lights or their water could be turned off because they can’t pay the rates,” he added.
As recently as the 2012 Budget, which was passed by Clare County Council, it stated, “It has not been possible to provide for a decrease in rates”, with the local authority adding that, “Clare County Council is acutely aware of the financial difficulties which our ratepayers are experiencing and we are committed to adopting a practical approach in terms of facilitating rate-payers”.
The meeting takes place in the Oakwood Arms on Monday night next at 8pm, with Mr O’Connor calling on business people, public representatives and council officials to attend.