Councillors in revolt over threat to local motor tax offices

The plan by Meath County Council to end the local motor taxation service in its Duleek and Dunshaughlin 'one-stop-shops" is meeting with a councillors" revolt and members from both districts are organising a special meeting to oppose the move. The council"s proposal, announced last week at a meeting of Meath County Council, shocked local councillors who roundly condemned it as 'the thin end of the wedge' for the future existence of the local civic offices. The withdrawal of motor tax services means that members of the public will either have to travel to Navan to carry out all motor tax business or do it online. Councillors were told that technical reasons associated with the broadand connection were behind the move. A top-level meeting had been held in September to discuss the use of Government networks to replace the frame relay service for motor tax offices. Among those present were representatives of the Local Government Computer Services Board, and personnel from the Departments of Transport and Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Three councillors - Brian Fitzgerald, Jimmy Cudden and Oliver Brooks - say they will not see the taxation facilities go without a fight and they are organising to press for the retention of the service. They have already challenged a contention by a council official that 95 per cent of local authorities had only one motor tax office, and that only Meath, Donegal and Wicklow have local offices. Cllr Fitzgerald said this week he had found at least eight local authorities which had more than one local motor taxation office, while Cllr Cudden pointed to Meath"s nearest neighbour - Louth - which, he said, had offices in both Drogheda and Dundalk. Cllr Fitzgerald said councillors had been given inaccurate information about the existence of multiple motor taxation offices in various counties. Not alone did Meath, Donegal and Wicklow have local offices providing the service, but there were eight other councils providing a similar service, he said. 'This service, which is very much used by the public and is popular with them, has to be protected. We are going to insist that the council put in place the necessary means of retaining that service. We will not tolerate a core service such a motor taxation leaving an office like Dunshaughlin,' he said. 'We were all going for the one-stop-shops in 1999. We are going to ensure that the policy of setting them up will not be change by stealth. There are 80,000 people served by the two offices in Dunshaughlin and Duleek. Where there is money being spent on non-core services at these offices, then that is where the cuts should take place,' he said. Cllr Brooks said it had been suggested that people could go online to tax their vehicles 'but the truth of the matter is that only 25 per cent of drivers tax their cars over the internet. And if you want to backdate tax, you can"t do it online. The future of the one-stop-shops is a big concern to us. They have already lost the planning back to Navan. It is very frustrating. I want to make it clear that I will be supporting my fellow councillors in any move they will make to stop this happening', he said. Cllr Cudden added that he, too, would not be allowing the closure of the motor tax facility at Duleek and Dunshaughlin without a fight. 'The question arises whether it will be worth while keeping the district offices open if the motor tax is removed,' the Duleek councillor said. He said the establishment of the motor tax facility in the district offices had been an enlightened move in 1998. 'Minister Noel Dempsey turned the first sod on the Duleek site in May 1998 and, about a year later, he officially opened it. It was built by John Pentony at a cost of €1.3 million. He said at the time that he wanted to put something back into Duleek. The minister said that local democracy had changed forever with the opening of the Duleek office. Meath County Council was leading the way in bringing government to the people,' he recalled. Cllr Cudden compared the 'stealthy' withdrawal of services from the Duleek office to 'the retreat of Napoleon from Moscow'. He went on: 'In the last 18 months we have seen the withdrawal from Duleek of the Disabled Persons" Grants, the Essential Repairs Grants, the heritage officer, and the planning. And now they want the motor tax office to go. So this is what bringing democracy to the people means.'