Because we're worth it: Cllrs defend €832,000 wages bill

Meath"s county councillors were paid a total of €832,798 in wages, costs and expenses last year, a rise of over €50,000 on the previous year. The highest sum was paid to Cllr Nick Killian (€42,984) who was council cathaoirleach for half of that term, while the second highest was paid to Cllr Jimmy Cudden (€39,453) who had also been chairman for the first half of 2007. The lowest sums were paid to Cllr Eoin Holmes (€7,841) who was co-opted onto the council late last year to replace Senator Dominic Hannigan. Senator Hannigan consequently was paid €14,542 before he resigned his seat last year - neither of these would have been paid for the entire year. The lowest amount paid to a councillor in office for the full year was Cllr Peter Higgins of Fine Gael, who received €22,541, while Cllr Joe Reilly of Sinn Fein was the next lowest, receiving €22,935. Councillors were adamant this week that they were very good value for money Figures for the councillors" wage bill, which were published this week by the Irish Independent, show that the average amount paid to councillors last year was €26,918, less than the average industrial wage. Cllr Nick Killian said he believed he was very good value for money. 'Considering the hours I work as a councillor, my take-home rate of pay is well under the minimum wage,' he said. Cllr Killian pointed out that the role of cathaoirleach should be a full-time one, as he had to attend countless events as chairman. In 2006, when he was not in the chair, he received €27,108. 'I make no apologies. I run a full-time office, with a part-time secretary and the cost of postage and telephones have to be sustained,' he said. Cllr Killian said that politicians pay was an easy target at a slack time for the media and it was time the monies paid to senior government, state agency and local authority officials all were looked at. Cllr Jimmy Cudden said that, for the first half of 2007, he was chairman and had been expected to be at various events nearly every day. He pointed out that he had been a county councillor for 29 years and, for 25 of those years, he had been a self-employed bus driver. 'In order to attend meetings, I had to employ someone to cover for me, I ended up out of pocket on those occasions,' he said. He added that he was at his constituents" beck and call seven days a week. 'Voters seems to thnik that councillors are worth it as many of us are re-elected,' he said. Cllr Jim Holloway pointed out that he was chairman of the Southern and Eastern Regional Assembly and a member of the Southern and Eastern Authority and this meant he had to travel long distances to meetings each month. 'I am a full-time politician and work full-time every day. That is what I do,' he said. Cllr Noel Leonard said that when the figure of €29,000 was given for him, it didn"t mention that this was a gross amount and didn"t take into the account that this was before tax was paid on his earnings. He said he had to attend county council meetings, area council meetings, Strategic Policy Committee meetings, Meath Enterprise Board meetings, Travellers Settlement Committee meetings and audit committee meetings on a regular basis. 'I have an office in my spare room and it is open 24/7. I even got a call on Christmas Day last year,' the Dunboyne councillor remarked. Cllr Leonard said that councillors received €600 a year for mobile phone expenses and his bill for January alone was €369.31 and he was now well over the amount he could receive in expenses.