‘On the clippings of tin’
Tipperary Co Council has written to two government departments over expenditure it is required to make in its annual budget.
Discussing the 2025 estimates last week, councillors hit out at a service cost of €336,000 for picking up horses. Cllr Michael O'Meara described this cost as “crazy” and said it should not be borne by the council but by the Department of Agriculture. Apart altogether from the cost, collecting horses presents a safety hazard to council staff, he said.
Cllr David Dunne described picking up horses as “a complete waste of money”. The council is trying to obtain value for money and there are many other areas where that €336,000 should be spent, he said. In agreement was Cllr Michael Anglim, who observed that the figure could go some way towards easing the burden on Tipperary's ratepayers.
Director of Services Eamon Lonergan agreed that the provision “doesn't make financial sense” but said the council is required to provide a service where horses are wandering on roads or found on public land. The council has raised the matter with the Dept of Agriculture and Mr Lonergan hoped the department would take over the function along lines similar to veterinary and food safety.
Similarly, Cllr Jim Ryan hit out at the council's budgeting of over €341,000 on operation of morgue and coroner expenses. It is a “disgrace” that the council should have to find almost €2 million in its hard-pressed resources over the course of five years, Cllr Ryan said.
Having brought the same issue up at previous meetings, he noted that local authorities in Dublin have their coroner fees paid for by the Dept of Justice. The heads of all the other local authorities across Ireland should put pressure on in search of the same treatment, proposed.
Head of Finance Mark Connolly concurred and said a letter has gone to the Dept of Justice about the situation. He hoped the matter would be progressed in 2025 but the council still had to budget for coroner costs.
‘HUGE MENTAL STRESS’
At over €61 million, Road Transport and Safety is the council's biggest area of expenditure, though Cllr John Carroll was concerned that the maintenance budget for rural roads has remained “static” over the last 10 years. This is causing “huge mental stress” to the council executive, staff and councillors themselves in trying to maintain road conditions. This situation cannot continue, Cllr Carroll said, calling for it to be raised with Transport Infrastructure Ireland and whomever the next Minister for Transport may be.
In agreement was Cllr O'Meara, who said the 5.5% rate increase in next year's budget “won't put one extra shovel of tar on our roads”. While the cost of road work is up by 50%, the council is not getting any extra work done for the money it is spending and this a problem that hasn't been dealt with.
Describing the roads funding that the council receives from central government as an “insult”, Cllr O'Meara criticised the situation where some local authorities hand back funding at the end of the year because they cannot spend it.
“We're on the clippings of tin here,” he said. “We're second class citizens here. This is very much for me the elephant in the room.”
Cllr Siobhán Ambrose believed funding should be coming from the EU to support farmers in need of road repair. The cost should not fall on the council, she said. Director of Services Liam Brett agreed that the council needs more roads funding but anticipated there would be a slight increase in next year's maintenance budget.