Limerick budget passed amid 'roaring across the floor'

Sinn Féin councillor Sharon Benson said living conditions for some locals were like a scene out of Angela’s Ashes

Daniel Butler - Mayor of the City and County of Limerick - said the number of bad-tempered interruptions at the contentious Limerick city and county council budget meeting was akin to a pantomime. Photo: Sean Curtin True Media.

Despite a heated debate that brought comparisons to the pantomime, a total revenue budget of more than €952m was approved by Limerick City and County councillors on Friday.

Out of the total budget, the majority (€749m) is for Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Shared Services, which Limerick runs on behalf of the 31 local authorities, with the remaining €203m allocated to day-to-day services for the citizens of Limerick.

All local authorities use the HAP Shared Services Centre to collect rents from HAP tenants and make HAP rental payments to landlords.

Tensions flared at the Millennium Theatre, TUS Moylish Campus when Sinn Féin councillor Sharon Benson said she and her other party members would not stand over the budget.

“Another budget of more of the same will not do for the people of Limerick,” Ms Benson said.

She said they are still seeing locals using buckets to collect rainwater that has leaked through their roofs, saying that it was like a scene out of Angela’s Ashes.

Following a number of interruptions from other councillors from various parties, Cllr Daniel Butler - Mayor of the City and County of Limerick - was forced to interject and call for respect to be shown, adding that they were not to “roar across the floor” at each other.

Fine Gael councillor Liam Galvin invited Sinn Féin to come back with a balanced budget and said the other member of the council could then vote on it.

“Where is this money going to come from?” Mr Galvin asked.

Mr Galvin added: “There are a lot of councillors here who would like to get x,y or z. 

But we have to be realistic and not come from a place like cuckoo-land like Cllr Benson is after coming from.

Mr Galvin put forward a motion that there be an adjournment for half an hour, and a “costed budget” from Sinn Féin presented, with all the money accounted for.

Sinn Féin was offered the chance to take a 30-minute break, which it declined. Ms Benson said the point they were making is that the local Government was severely underfunded. While Ms Benson was speaking she was interrupted once again, forcing the mayor to remind the other councillors that they were “not in a pantomime”.

The budget was eventually approved. As part of measures to support business, there will be no change in commercial rates. 

Among the key areas addressed, a total of €8.5m will be set aside for housing maintenance, Traveller accommodation and estate management, with €14.7m going to the Rental Accommodation Scheme as well as leasing. A further €47m will be spent on local, regional, primary and secondary roads, alongside public lighting, traffic management, and road safety.