Minister warned council of dissolution

SLIGO COUNTY Council is on the verge of abolition, several members warned yesterday during a heated debate, after a recent critical report by a local government auditor found the council’s capital debt was almost €77 million.

During the meeting it emerged Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan, who met a deputation from the council on January 31st, had warned that failure to adopt a balanced budget could result in the dissolution of the council and the appointment of a commissioner to carry out the council’s functions.

At the end of the meeting, councillors voted against referring the circumstances surrounding a €15 million loan to the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which had been debated at yesterday’s meeting.

The meeting was adjourned amid uproar for 10 minutes after Independent councillor Declan Bree, who was seeking the suspension of standing orders to discuss the financial crisis, accused the chairman of not allowing him speak.

County manager Hubert Kearns told members he did not agree with the view that the last budget adopted by the council in December had been illegal.

Fianna Fáil’s Jude Devins said this was the impression his party colleagues got during the meeting with the Minister.

Mr Bree, who described the budget as “a work of fantasy”, accused Fine Gael councillors of dancing to the county manager’s tune.

Calling for a PAC probe into the €15 million loan authorised by councillors in June 2010, he said “not a red cent” was used to offset a then Revenue Account Deficit of €7.5 million, which had increased to €10 million last December.

And he said he had told the Minister the council was still losing €7,000 every day.

Fine Gael councillor Joe Leonard said normally issues were referred to the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee when there was concern about misappropriation of funds but this was not the case here.

“We do not want red herrings – we want solutions to the crisis,” he said.

Sinn Féin councillor Seán MacManus agreed that there was no question of misappropriation but said the concern was that none of the loan was used to offset the deficit.

“Minister Hogan stuck that into our faces. He asked us why it did not happen,” said Mr MacManus, who was part of the deputation that met the Minister.

Mr MacManus predicted the deficit would “mushroom” to €13 million by the end of this year.

Independent councillor Michael Clarke said they should not be afraid to refer the matter to the PAC as it might “strengthen our hand with the department”.

“We may not be here this time next year,” he added.

Councillors voted by 12 votes to five against referring the matter to the PAC, with one member abstaining.

Mr Kearns told the meeting that officials had “several times” explained to members how the €15 million had been allocated and the capital projects involved.

During yesterday’s meeting Mr Kearns said that, like the Government, the council would not be able to balance the books for some years.

“We cannot cut off the water,” he added.

The manager said the council was bound by the Croke Park agreement and could not put staff on a four-day week.

He said the council had just been told the department would put up 90 per cent of the required funding for the Sligo Water Conservation project, leaving the local authority to pay a balance of €500,000.

“Do I tell the department to keep the money because we have not got the half million?” Mr Kearns asked.

“The same department which is asking us to cut our budget is asking us to put half a million [euro] into this,” he added.