No prospect of finding extra € 1m in savings
County Manager David O'Connor
AN attempt from Fine Gael councillors to transfer a further € 1 million in funds to allow the council to reduce commercial rates even further failed as the county manager said there was 'no prospect whatever' of finding the necessary savings.
Fine Gael wanted the savings to be taken from the spiralling cost of the fire service but County Manager, David O'Connor said that budget had already been reduced by some € 2 million and a further € 1 million could not be found.
Cllr Joan Maher (FG) said that she had many representations, particularly from small retailers, who were suffering.
Cllr Anne Devitt (FG) said the council's contribution to the fire service had 'grown like topsies' and was an 'arbitrary figure' set by Dublin City Council who had overall administrative power over the service across the four Dublin regions.
Necessary
She said it was both 'possible and feasible' to reduce the rate further and it was necessary to address the problems in the retail sector caused by huge increased in their commercial property valuations. The county manager said he had already decided to reduce the allocation to the fire service from. around € 20 million to € 18 million which gave the council some savings and a 'bit of leeway' to compromise on the bin waiver decision.
But he said there was 'no prospect whatsoever of reducing that by another million'. He said the proposal 'stretches it beyond the bounds of possibility'.
Cllr Michael O'Donovan (Lab) said the cuts in rates already proposed in the budget were 'way ahead of anywhere else' and the council was making 'great efforts' to ease the cost burdens on business.
Socialist Party councillors accused Fine Gael of trying to reduce rates further at the expense of a compromise on the bin tag waiver scheme and favouring big business over those on social welfare.
But the party vehemently rejected those charges, with Cllr Joan Maher (FG) and Cllr Anne Devitt (FG) characterising the charges as 'lies'.
Ultimately, the Fine Gael proposal was defeated by 15 votes to seven and resulted in the Fine Gael group ultimately voting against the budget.
- John MANNING
