€6k bonus to chair 10 meetings a year

Some councillors will earn around €300 an hour each if they chair meetings of the eight new, municipal districts in County Cork.

Each chairman will receive a payment of €6,000 a year to oversee 10 meetings of each of the municipal districts, which were brought in to replace town councils.

On average, each meeting lasts two hours. Over the five-year term of the council it would mean that €240,000 will be expended on chairmen’s allowances.

Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan decided that the chairmen should be given the annual €6,000 allowance. However, he also stipulated that this could be reduced by the members of any particular district if they thought it appropriate.

However, none of the eight municipal districts voted to reduce the figure.

The payment has been criticised by some councillors, who say it’s excessive and should be significantly reduced at a time when the cash-strapped local authority is crying out for money.

The initial opposition came from Independents and Sinn Féin, but nevertheless it was voted to retain the €6,000 payment.

Sinn Féin’s Cllr Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire maintained the payment should be at least halved.

“We have raised the issue of the excessive allowances paid to chairs at every opportunity. However, this has been voted down by other parties, so the democratic decision of the council stands. However, we will continue to push for a reduction in the allowance, where the opportunity presents itself,” Mr Ó Laoghaire said. “We are in a situation where local authorities have been under-funded for many years and are struggling to deliver services for the public.”

Mr Ó Laoghaire said, even if the allowances were halved, it would save €120,000 over the five-year term which could be spent on community projects.

To make matters worse councillors are wondering if the new municipal districts will have even less power than the town councils had.

Councillors were under the impression that they would get more powers, such as deciding on axing pay parking. However, it has emerged that legislation introduced by Phil Hogan has given the governing county council a basic veto on anything the municipal district members decide.

Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) described the new municipal districts as “toothless” after discovering they couldn’t do anything “that would give rise to inconsistency with any policy, strategy, programme or plan” of the county council.