Councillors claimed €1.6m in 2005 expenses

LOCAL democracy doesn’t come cheap. In fact taxpayers had to fork out a whopping €1,617,686 last year to finance expenses and meeting allowances for their council representatives in County Cork.

Figures obtained by the Irish Examiner show the average payout for the 48 councillors came to €33,701.

Topping the list was Paddy Sheehan, with €52,098.70. This was not altogether unexpected as he held the position of Mayor of County Cork for much of last year and was required to attend more meetings and functions than anybody else.