€900k spent on county councillors in 2012

€900k spent on county councillors in 2012


Neill O’Neill
neilloneill@mayonews.ie

THE cost of administering local government for Mayo County Council ran to in excess of €900,000 in 2012, with new figures showing that €894,132.40 was the total amount of payments made to councillors last year. This figure was bumped up by payments of over €9,000 to non-councillor committee members.
Of this, €517,000 was paid in representational payments (salaries) to the councillors, with €203,00 paid in annual allowances and over €58,000 paid in expenses for attending conferences in Ireland. There are 31 county councillors in Mayo.
The total amounts paid out were broken down as follows.
Expenses for attending conferences in Ireland €58,262; annual allowance; €203,187; representational payment €517,051; Cathaoirleach/Leas Cathaoirleach allowances €55,874; County Development Chairperson payment €6,000; expenses abroad €4,738; mobile phone allowance €6,017 and audit committee €4,000.
A total of eight councillors incurred expenses abroad, totaling €4,738 and this money was recouped following trips to France, Lithuania and the USA. The trips to Lithuania and France were to pursue discussions on proposed twinnings with towns in those countries, while there was an ‘official visit to Cleveland’ and also an ‘annual promotional visit to the USA’.
Six of the councillors claimed no expenses for attendance at conferences, while some others have been vocal in their claims that many conferences are a ‘waste of money’ and merely a way for elected representatives to boost income by attending irrelevant conferences as far away from Mayo as is possible.
Among the conferences attended by Mayo County Councillors last year were; ‘Renewable Materials Design Strategies Construction Method and Technologies’ in Donegal Town; ‘Bullying and Stress in the Workplace’ in Tralee; ‘Building Community Preparedness and Resilience, an International and Local Perspective’ in Killarney; ‘A Conference on Public Speaking and Promotional Literature Design’ in Rosscarbery in Cork; ‘Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 in Tralee and ‘Mind Mapping and Efficient Reading Techniques’, which was also held in Rosscarbery.

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