Council permitted to dip into frozen funds
MONEY RELEASED NOT ENOUGH FOR NEW PROJECTS
Plans for a community centre in Brackenstown have been put on hold because of a funding freeze imposed on Fingal County Council. Residents held a protest earlier this year.
Wednesday July 22 2009
THE effective freezing of € 70 million of funds the council has sitting in the bank has been partially lifted by the Department of the Environment but the money released will not be enough to fund any new capital projects in Fingal. The council has been allowed to dip into € 40 million of the total amount but this added to the € 10 million it expects to raise this year will only be enough to fund projects that have already started. The council has some € 55 million worth of contracts signed for various capital building projects around the county, so new projects like the long-awaited community centres in Kinsealy and Brackenstown in Swords will remain stuck in the queue for funds.
The partial release of funds comes on the back of representations made by County Manager, David O'Connor and senior council officials at the very highest level of the Department of the Environment and the Department of Finance. Mr O'Connor said that he was notified of the decision just before the full council meeting last week but said that the funds were less than the value of the contracts that the council was already committed to.
Cllr Ruth Coppinger (SP), who put down a motion on the issue, said that while she welcomed the partial release of funds, there was still an effective 'freeze' on new capital projects in the county.
Cllr Patrick Nulty (Lab), said that the total € 70 million in funds were collected from development levies and 'belonged to the people of Fingal'. He said that it was ' really outrageous' that the Government was stopping the council spending that money for the benefit of Fingal citizens.
Cllr Gerry McGuire (Lab) said that the decision meant there were still millions (€ 30 million) in funds frozen that the council could fund new projects with. The funds were initially frozen when new rules on local authority spending were introduces that meant capital spending in any one year had to be funded from income generated in the same year. The € 70 million is already banked and is funds from development levies collected in previous years that were yet to be spent. The issue has been one of huge controversy in the county in recent months and prompted the now Deputy Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Tom Kelleher (Lab) to stage a protest outside the Department of Environment during his local election campaign.
- John MANNING
