Call to scrap ‘junkets’ for 55 Cork county councillors

Proposals to send all 55 Cork county councillors to European Union training sessions in Brussels, at a cost of tens of thousands of euro, have been sharply criticised as the hard-up local authority cannot afford to improve many of its basic services.

Sinn Féin members, in particular, described the decision as a scandal, with Cllr Melissa Mullane claiming the council cannot maintain its housing stock or repair potholes.

Cllr Des O’Grady said he was alarmed to learn of the plans to send as many councillors as possible on two such junkets, especially as the council recently increased local property tax (LPT) by 5% to prop up its services.