Managers ask Cullen to foot €141m bill

Mary Dundon

Environment Minister Martin Cullen is insisting local authorities pick up the tab for the benchmarking awards, that are due to their workers in the coming year.

But city and county managers say this is not fair, as the benchmarking deal was negotiated nationally and should be paid out of the Exchequer.

The new chairman of the City and County Managers Association (C&CMA), William Soffe, will be seeking further meetings with the minister and his officials, to see if the department can provide extra funding for this massive once-off pay bill.

Mr Cullen has already indicated he will not provide local authorities with a special fund to finance their benchmarking pay deal.

But city and county managers are continuing their efforts to get the minister to make some concession to local authorities.

"The local authorities are the only group in the public sector that are being asked to pay the benchmarking out of their own coffers," said Cork County manager Maurice Maloney.

The Exchequer will finance the benchmarking awards to all other public servants, and the city and county managers cannot understand why the Government will not pay local authority workers out of central funds also.

"About a third of what local authority workers will get in benchmarking €70 million will go back to the Exchequer in taxes," said Mr Maloney.

This money will actually help the Government pay benchmarking awards to other public servants, added Mr Maloney.

Local authorities are preparing their 2004 spending estimates, and if they do not get any extra money from Mr Cullen, then they will have no option but to increase service charges and commercial rates or cut service charges, he said.