Govt orders council to slash costs

A grim forecast of the disabling effects of a Government diktat requiring Meath County Council to cut payroll and administrative costs by three per cent has been spelled out by councillors this week. One councillor described the measure to slash costs as 'crippling' and predicted the county would see services undermined in all areas as a result. Independent councillor Brian Fitzgerald said he was appalled at the prospect of the damage such a cut would do to the county council, which already has the lowest staffing level per head of population in the country. He foresaw a crippling slowing-down of county council business in such key areas as housing, estimating that staff could be cut by between 20 and 40 people. Dealing with the recent floods in different parts of the county had placed a massive burden on outdoor staff, where numbers were not high enough, he added. His opposition to the cut was backed by Fine Gael councillor Jim Holloway who asked: 'How do you cut payroll and staff numbers in Meath County Council which is already the lowest staffed in the entire country and the most underfunded of all councils in the entire country in terms of its current budget?' Meath County Council spokesman, Bill Sweeney, said that an update on financing was due to be presented to county councillors at the October monthly meeting of the council. The circular from the Department of the Environment and Local Government has to be considered in the context of the preparation of the annual budget which normally gets underway in October, he said. The circular explained that the Department of Finance had asked it to require all local authorities and other agencies to implement payroll and administrative savings and to take 'immediate steps' to ensure efficiencies this year to 'pave the way for cost savings in 2009.' In preparing the annual budget, authorities must implement a three per cent cut in payroll costs, covering measures including 'control of numbers'. Referred to in the circular are the Local Government Fund and capital provision, both vital to Meath County Council. However, it is too early to indicate 'the position that may arise for local authority funding in 2009' with regard to these, the circular states. The decision means that bodies must also cut by at least half in 2009 'expenditure on consultancy, including contractors and external providers, advertising and public relations'. However, the message from the Dept is that the cost-cutting in no way means responsibilities and obligations for delivery of essential services could be set aside. Cllr Fitzgerald said he was aghast at the outlook which the circular had now opened up. He asked why his suggestion at last year"s budgetary meeting of a five-year plan to tackle Meath County Council"s financial difficulties had not been acted upon. Mr Sweeney commented that the county council had been 'involved in a cost control exercise for the last three years'. He added that the council was continually 'assessing its cost base' but the circular required them to move that to a new level. Cllr Holloway referred to the Farrell Grant and Sparks 2006 report, showing Meath with the largest population per staff member in the State. According to these figures, each staff member in Meath already served a population of 219 people, compared with 157 in the Fingal County Council area, for example. What the Government was proposing wouuld be a disaster for Meath, predicted Cllr Holloway, and make worse the relative disadvantage it had compared to Louth and Kildare, to take just two examples. Sinn Fein county councillor Joe Reilly focused on the possible effects on the already over-stretched planning section of the council. He believed that a significant number were employed on a contract basis and was concerned about what the outcome of the cuts could be in this usually mobile sector of staff.