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28th August 2012 • Volume 19, Issue 25 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. • Tel: 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie
County Councillors Ready For The Off W
ith the local elections in the not too distant future, residents of the North County can expect to have eager candidates knocking on their doors. While the elections are two years away, some would be county councillors will be in full harness shortly. With this in mind, the question arises about what exactly they do and if they are worth the expense. By Patrick Finnegan The general consensus is that our county councillors are well paid and the expectation from the electorate is that value for money is being realised. The North County area is served by a total of 15 county councillors in the Balbriggan, Swords/ Donabate and Howth/ Malahide electoral areas. The total representation for Fingal, including the Blanchardstown area is 24. Our elected representatives are paid a representational payment of €16,723.92, with the
SWORDS TRAVEL
County Mayor receiving a further allowance of €16,168.49 per annum. There is also an allowance for the deputy mayor. These representational payments are subject to taxation and are paid whether the councillor attends any meetings or not. There are also travelling expenses and these will vary according to the distance the councillor has to travel. Last year, this ranged from €6,500 to €7,100 and does not included expenses for the use of mobile phones, phone rental, broad-
band and others. These expenses are not subject to taxation. A spokesman for the council told the County Leader: “Expenses are paid each month and an assessment is carried out at the end of the year, and if councillors have been overpaid, they return the difference. At the end of the calendar year, we calculate the number of meetings each councillor attended and make adjustments accordingly,” he said. They must attend 80 per cent of the meetings, including full council meetings and local area meetings in order to claim the full allowance. In the 12 month period from 15th June 2011 to 22nd June 2012, there were a total of 17 full council meetings, as well as a number of local area meetings. Some councillors, namely Peter Coyle, Ken Farrell. Joan Maher, May
McKeon and David O’Connor had a 100 per cent attendance rate, with councillors Darragh Butler, Anthony Lavin, Gerry McGuire and Ciaran Byrne hot on their heels with 16 attendances. The poorest
was very high, with the majority of councillors attending to meetings in their particular election wards. In the case of Cllr O’Leary, it must be said that his time consuming role as PA
• Cllr. Ann Devitt
to the Minister for Health, James Reilly may have been responsible for his poor attendance record, while Cllr
• Cllr. Tom O’Leary
Devitt has been a controversial figure within her own party, before being expelled from it earlier in the year.
St Finian's GAA Club, River Valley held their football Summer Camp recently and presented medal to players who displayed great skills. Pictured with their medals are proud local children, Ellen Sylvester, John Sylvester, Ciara Laird, Conor Laird, Rachel Church, Jason O'Reilly, Gabrielle Church, Stephen Kenny, Carlos Kenny, Martha Kenny, Molly Howard, Liam Kirwan and George Howard.
What A Stinker! The recent decision of Panda to increase the cost of a bin tag from €8.00 to €8.75 has caused uproar in the community and is being viewed by some as a breach of contract. The County Leader was contacted by River Valley resident, Imelda Kirwan who feels betrayed by both Panda and the County Council, who sold the
attendance was by Fine Gael councillor, Tom O’Leary and former Fine Gael councillor, Anne Devitt, who both recorded an attendance of 65 per cent. The attendance at local area meetings
LOWEST ATTENDANCE AT 65%
lucrative business to Panda. As part of their agreement with the local authority, Panda guaranteed a price freeze for all of their customers for 2012. This agreement came into existence in November 2011. She sent numerous letters of complaint ; one of which was to local deputy Brendan Ryan (Lab). He
contacted Panda on behalf of Imelda and was told by John Dunne from Panda that the increase was unavoidable, despite the promise of a price freeze. He told Ryan: “Panda did indeed commit to a price freeze at the time of the tender, but since then, the Department of the Environment have increased the tax rate on Landfill charges by 30 per cent from €50 to €65 per tonne,” he wrote. Imelda does not accept this explanation at all. “I am appalled by what
Panda have done. If they really wanted to honour their guarantee, they should have organised to absorb the tax increase by the Department of the Environment for the final six months of 2012. They should also have made some attempt to notify customers of the bin tag price increase in advance. No one knew about it until they went to buy their bin tags,” she said furiously. She also felt very betrayed by the council who just washed their hands of the problem. They told her that it
was effectively none of their business any more and that they no linger provided a waste collection service. All of this has meant that Imelda has changed her waste collection from Panda to one of it’s rival companies who, she says, “charge a lot less than Panda for the same service.” She changed her provider as a matter of principle. “I can easily afford the increase, but I’m sure there are many residents who cannot afford it. I just don’t like being betrayed and lied to,” she concluded.