This article is from page 17 of the 2009-04-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
the elected members salaries and expenses from 2004 to 2008 reached €287,725.40.
While this figure includes the meet- ing attendance allocation of three members that were not re-elected in June 2004, it does not include the three members’ salaries or any of their other expenses.
This figure does not take account of the councillor’s wages and expenses for the first five months of this year – that is up until the election on June
The figures obtained however give a good indication of the financial cost of democracy in the west Clare or TOUTE
The cost of maintaining and sup- porting elected representatives for the town of Kilrush costs each of its citizens an estimated €21.83 per year.
During the lifetime of the current
local town council the bill to sus- tain the council’s expenses and sala- ries will reach €300,000, a cost of €109.50 to its 2,657 citizens.
The top earner among the Kilrush town councillors for the last five years was former mayor of the town Cllr Christy O’Malley (FF), who claimed €43,700.91.
A mayoral allowance and a twin- ning conference, as well as a number of seminars and conferences under- taken by the councillor added up to bring the councillors total over the €40,000 mark.
The current mayor of Clare Cllr Liam O’Looney (FF) was the only other councillor to exceed €40,000.
Again the mayoral allowance, paid to the chairperson of the council, was included in the calculations, as were seminar and conference fees.
Each councillor received a tax- able salary of more than €17,000 for the five years costing the council €137,197.
Despite residing in the town coun- cil area, the councillors were also paid a fee for attending meetings.
This cost the council just over
€86,328 for the five years.
Expenses for twinning, seminars and conferences reached €51,407.80 over the five years.
Cllr Jack Fennell (Ind) was the only councillor not to have claimed seminar and conference expenses for the five years.
Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) did not receive a salary as a member of Kiul- rush Town Council as he receives one as a member of Clare County Council. The county councillor was however awarded an attending al- lowance for meetings, and expenses.