This article is from page 22 of the 2008-11-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 22 JPG
€1,035,786 was paid in_ salaries and travelling expenses to the nine person management team of Clare County Council in 2007, according to figures released yesterday.
The news of the payments came as members of the executive came un- der pressure not to accept any per- formance related bonuses on top of their annual salaries this year.
The management team is made up of the county manager, the five direc- tors of services, the county secretary, the head of the human resources de-
partment and the head of the finance eljortasenoele
Figures for 2005 show that the total paid out to the management amount- ed to €843,139. The payments rose to €1,001,297 in 2006.
The figures were revealed at yes- terday’s meeting of Clare County Council, following a motion tabled by north Clare councillor Martin Lafferty (Ind).
Cllr Lafferty welcomed publication by the council of the figures. He said it was disappointing that there was such a high turnover of council staff nationwide.
“What we have seen over the past few years is that guys come into jobs and stay there for seven years and then move. Why wouldn’t they stay for another seven years?” asked Cllr Peouas
Pressed by Cllr Christy Curtain (Ind) to explain the 25 per cent jump in payments between 2005 and 2007, County Manager Alec Fleming said the rise was probably attributable to the fact that some positions on the executive had been unfulfilled for a period of time.
Earlier at the meeting, Cllr Tony Mulcahy (FG) tabled a motion stat-
ing that council officials should not, in light of the current economic downturn, accept any bonus pay- ments for 2008.
“Are ye going to accept perform- ance related bonuses in light of eve- rything that has happened this year?” questioned Cllr Mulcahy.
County Manager Alec Flemming said that any payments due to offi- cials were being paid in accordance with employment conditions set out by the Department of the Environ- ment, Heritage and Local Govern- ment.
In response to questioning from
Cllr Mulcahy, Mr Fleming did not say whether or not bonuses would be paid to the management team this year. “I’m not going to discuss this. It’s part of pay and conditions. It’s not going to be discussed,” said Mr i (renbbaree
Cllr Martin Conway (FG) support- ed Cllr Mulcahy’s motion. He said he was confident that council officials would not be seeking performance related bonuses.
Cllr Conway also called for the council to examine what measures could be taken to curtail the cost of overtime payments.