This article is from page 16 of the 2014-01-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
CLARE will receive less money from central government than any other county in Ireland in 2014, it was confirmed at last week’s budget meeting of Clare County Council.
Clare County Council will receive just € 2.647 million under the Local Government Fund (LGF) for 2014, a reduction of almost € 10 million on the € 12.3 million received by the county in 2013.
This represents a 78.48 per cent de- crease in the amount paid to Clare in just 12 months and also means that Clare County Council will receive less funding than any other local authority in Ireland under the Local Government Fund.
Much of this reduction is due to the transfer of water services from Clare County Council to the newly-formed Irish Water company.
Speaking at last week’s budget meeting, a number of councillors said that they felt they had been betrayed by the allocation from central government, especially considering that Clare recorded one of the highest compliance rates in the country for the Local Property Tax.
Commenting during the debate, Major of Clare, Joe Arkins (FG), said that he made contact with the Minster for Environment, Phil Hogan, to highlight the amount of LGF which has been allocated to Clare this year.
According to Cllr Arkins, the spokesperson for the Minister for the Environment said that the low level of funding for Clare County Council was a result of the establishment of Irish Water and the transfer of responsibilities from Clare County Council to this new group.
Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) also accused the new Irish Water company of taking “the cream” from this year’s budget.
Speaking about the budget a a whole, county manager Tom Coughlan said the Clare County Council would continue to work hard to provide services in a fast changing environment.
“Change is happening very quickly. Every day I am informed with some- thing different about the way that we work. Despite the fact that all that change is driving at us and challenging us we must ensure there is a structure in place to meet the needs of the people of Clare,” he said.
“If you look at the pay rates between 2009 and 2014, there has been a reduction of more than € 10 million.”
Mr Coughlan also confirmed that the budget was drafted before the recent storm damage along the western coast and that there was no funds in the budget for remedial works.