This article is from page 14 of the 2008-02-12 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
WHILE the Minister for the Envi- ronment maintains that there would be no useful purpose in meeting the councillors of Clare about their budget allocation for 2008, he said he would next time he was in the constituency.
Deputy Pat Breen (FG) has attacked the minister for his stance much to the annoyance of Clare County Councils only Green Party member.
Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) has ac- cused the Fine Gael deputy of using “unhelpful comments” and trying to score political points.
‘The spin put on it by Deputy Breen hasn’t helped the situation. The min- ister will meet with Clare County Council when he is in the constitu- ency. Deputy Breen’s use of this to score political points is a disservice to the electorate of Clare,” said Dep- uty Meaney.
Deputy Breen had accused the Green Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government John Gormley TD of distancing him- self from another crisis.
‘This 1s another typical example of the Green Party’s change of colour since they entered Government last May. Minister Gormley is distanc-
ing himself from another crisis. The reality is that he does not recognise the crisis we have here in County Clare. The current funding arrange- ments are simply inadequate. Clare County Council avoided the axe this year, as a result of which we will see a reduction in the budget for roads, housing, planning and environment together with an increased burden being placed on the business com- munity. County Clare is at the bot- tom of the pile when it comes to the allocation of funding from Central Government,” he said.
“The long-term ability of Clare County Council to deliver basic fa-
cilities including water and sewage treatment plants is threatened.”
The council had asked to meet with the minister to voice their dissatis- faction at the general-purpose grants allocations for 2008, and make a case for a larger allocation.
Minister Gormley argued in the Dail however that Clare County Council’s allocation for 2008 was€16,476,569, an increase of 5.13 per cent over the 2007 allocation.
“General purpose grants to Clare County Council have increased by some 460 per cent since 1997 which is more than twice the average in- crease to local authorities over that
period,” he said.
“In summary, and recognising that the council has recently agreed its budget for 2008, I am satisfied that the funding available to it from all sources, including general purpose erants, will enable it to provide an acceptable level of services to all its customers. In the circumstances, while no useful purpose would be served by meeting the proposed del- egation in the context of the 2008 general purpose grant allocations, I will take an opportunity to meet with the council as part of a programme of visits to local authorities during the year.”